DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A robbery suspect, who climbed to the top of a construction crane on the Southern Methodist University campus on Monday and threatened to shoot police officers, fell to his death early Tuesday morning, ending a standoff that had started over 12 hours earlier.

Dallas SWAT officers, SMU police and University Park police all first responded to the scene, just outside Gerald J. Ford Stadium, on the south side of the SMU campus, around 11:30 a.m. on Monday. Police locked down the SMU campus and a nearby shopping center as a precaution. The campus had already been closed for the Memorial Day holiday, and only essential personnel were working, according to Brad Cheves, SMU’s Vice President for Internal Affairs. Campus police told those employees to leave the area.

The man was believed to be the same suspect in an aggravated robbery case which took place early Monday morning in the 1300 block of Commerce Street in downtown Dallas. That person stole a truck with band equipment, crashed into vehicles while careening through the streets and lead police on a pursuit that ended on the SMU campus. Police sources said that the suspect then climbed the crane in an attempt to escape.

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ARTICLE: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/05/28/robbery-suspect-climbs-crane-at-...