HAZELWOOD • A bank robber shot himself in the head this morning after his getaway car crashed and police closed in on him on North Lindbergh Boulevard in Hazelwood, police say.

The 25-year-old man was breathing when an ambulance took him from the scene. He was taken to a St. Louis hospital where he was in critical condition and on life support. Authorities said the man is from Florissant and had been in the Marine Corps until about a year ago, but declined to provide other information about him.

Florissant Police Officer Andy Haarmann gave the following account:

At 10:18 a.m. Wednesday, a bank employee called police to say the U.S. Bank had just been robbed at 2100 North Highway 67 in Florissant.

The employee gave police a good description of the man and the car he drove away in — a silver Mitsubishi. The employee also told police the robber had a gun.

Police rushed to the bank and saw the Mitsubishi speeding south on Lindbergh. They chased the car into Hazelwood, where the car crashed into a concrete guardrail at the Taylor Road overpass.

The crash site is about four miles south of the bank.