BUTLER TWP — A police chase during rush hour this morning at a busy intersection ended in a shooting with one man dead, authorities said.

Details of the incident shortly after 8 a.m. on the Route 422 west on-ramp at Route 8 were not immediately known; however the Butler Eagle confirmed one person died.

State police and Butler Township police are investigating. Authorities believe the unknown driver shot himself after spinning out and crashing.

Butler County Deputy Coroner Dennis Trzeciak was called to the scene about 9 a.m.

Witnesses nearby reported that the driver was speeding while being chased by police southbound on Route 8.

A number of Butler Township and state police cruisers, marked and unmarked, converged on the scene about the time of the crash.

Other shoppers at the plaza, many for the grand opening of the Bottom Dollar store, said they, too, heard a single shot. Some said it sounded like it came from a rifle.