Independence woman fatally shoots self after giving chase to multiple police departments
An Independence Township woman who gave chase to multiple police departments Saturday night after threatening suicide fatally shot herself inside her vehicle after it was disabled in a tactical maneuver by state police.
About 8:30 p.m., Nicole Marie Natale, 37, told her family at their Avella home that she had a weapon and intended to “either commit suicide or suicide by police officer,” according to a news release issued by the Washington County coroner. 911 was called, and the woman fled the home in a vehicle.
Police from multiple departments pursued her along Route 18 from Independence Township to Washington. She attempted to enter Interstate 70 at the Jefferson Avenue on-ramp, where her vehicle was disabled by a state trooper who performed a PIT tactical driving maneuver in a pursuing cruiser along the ramp.
The vehicle was “brought to a stop via legal intervention,” state police stated in a news release.
Natale died from a single gunshot while inside the vehicle, police said.
She was pronounced dead at 10:32 p.m. at the scene, the coroner’s office said. Rulings on the cause and manner of death were pending further investigation.
Assisting were police from McDonald, and Smith, Chartiers and South Strabane townships, East Washington Borough, as well as the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Department of Public Safety SWAT team, Ambulance and Chair Service, and Washington Fire Department.