The regular sight of Friday afternoon traffic on 8th Avenue south of downtown Greeley belied the violent scene the night before that left one man dead.

Police chased a driver Thursday night to the intersection of 8th Avenue and 14th Street, where the driver rear-ended a vehicle and caused a head-on collision before exiting his truck. Approaching the responding officers with a handgun to his head, the driver shot himself in the head, according to authorities.

It began at 8:08 p.m. Thursday, when a Greeley police officer attempted to stop a pickup speeding northbound in the 1800 block of U.S. 85. The driver of the pickup – later identified as 26-year-old Matthew Marshall McClure of Greeley – accelerated quickly, and the officer stopped pursuing him.

Another driver called dispatch shortly thereafter to report McClure was chasing him after a road rage incident. The caller reported McClure was armed with a handgun and had fired shots at his vehicle.

McClure followed the caller to 2nd Street and 9th Avenue, where a Greeley police officer again attempted to stop McClure.

The officer pursued McClure down 8th Avenue to the intersection at 14th Street, where McClure rear-ended the southbound vehicle. He continued pushing the southbound vehicle over the median and into the northbound lanes of 8th Avenue. The vehicle then collided head-on with a northbound vehicle. Greeley Police Lt. Mike Zeller said the drivers sustained minor injuries in the collision.

As officers approached the scene of the collision, McClure exited his truck and began walking toward responding officers with a handgun to his head. Once he was within about 20 yards of the officers, McClure shot himself in the head with his handgun, according to a release from Greeley police.

Officers called for medical services and rendered aid before checking the occupants of the vehicles in the head-on collision. McClure and the two occupants of the vehicles in the head-on collision were taken to North Colorado Medical Center by ambulance.

McClure died from his injuries about 5 a.m. Friday, according to Greeley police. The drivers injured in the head-on collision were treated and released from the hospital Friday, Zeller said. Their names were not immediately released.

The Greeley Police Traffic Unit is investigating the crash scene, and detectives are investigating the road rage incident.