Police kill hospital gunman

A 39-year-old man who led police on a high-speed car chase in Nebraska opened fire hours later at an Omaha hospital, wounding two police officers before they gunned him down.

Jeffrey Layten died of his wounds last night at Creighton University Medical Centre, Omaha Police spokesman Jacob Bettin said.

Police did not disclose a possible motive for the shootings and the hospital’s chief executive Gary Honts said he did not know of any link Layten may have had to the hospital.

According to police, Layten fired at the two officers, grazing them, and the officers returned fire.

Police have not said why they think Layten was at the hospital, but hours earlier he had fled the crash scene after driving his pick-up truck into a utility pole following the police chase.

Layten, who owned the Upland Fields Hunt Club, took off in his truck with three guns after a family argument, police said.

He had at least four years of army training and “was a crack shot”, Omaha lawyer James Davis said outside the hospital.