LIBERTY — The Liberty Police Department says Tyler Welsh Jr., 30, of Girard, who Niles and Liberty police chased Friday afternoon after Welsh allegedly robbed a Girard store earlier Friday, has died.

A Liberty news release states that Welsh died early Saturday from injuries he sustained from a self-inflicted gunshot as police surrounded a home on Youngstown Hubbard Road.

Capt. Ray Buhala of the Liberty Police Department stated Niles police were chasing Welsh, who was in a sport utility vehicle, sometime before 3:16 p.m. Friday. Welsh’s vehicle headed into Liberty.

Liberty police were notified by Trumbull County dispatchers that Welsh was wanted on a warrant from Girard for aggravated robbery. Liberty officers joined the chase, which continued into Youngstown, but the chase was terminated in Youngstown after Welsh demonstrated complete disregard for the public’s safety, the release states.

At about 5:10 p.m., Welsh was seen driving the same blue Ford SUV in Liberty. He failed to stop for officers and led them on another short pursuit that ended in the driveway of the abandoned home on Youngstown Hubbard Road.

Welsh then exited his vehicle with a gun to his head and entered the home.

Officers established a perimeter around the house and requested assistance from the Mahoning Valley Crisis Response Team. A Liberty negotiator with the response team asked through an intercom for Welsh to exit the home, but he did not.

At 6:14 p.m. officers heard a single gunshot from within the home and found Welsh with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Liberty Fire Department immediately rendered aid to Welsh, and he was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital in critical condition, the release states. He died early Saturday.

Girard Municipal Court has an aggravated robbery charge from Friday on file for Welsh. It was filed by the Girard Police Department.

PREVIOUS INCIDENT

Welsh also was the subject of a chase June 16, 2021. That chase also passed through Liberty and Girard and ended with a crash in Girard, according to Vindicator files.

Liberty police said Welsh, then 29, was charged with failure to comply with the orders of a police officer, having a weapon while intoxicated, improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and a traffic violation.

The incident began with an officer hearing tires screeching on Belmont Avenue about 2:03 a.m. June 16. Police saw the car stopped in the road with Welsh appearing to signal the officer to drive around him. The officer, thinking the vehicle was disabled, activated the overhead lights. That is when the driver drove away at high speed. The officer followed the car, which was swerving on Trumbull Avenue, according to previous reports.

As the vehicle crossed into Girard, the driver turned off his headlights and began to pull away from the officer. Then vehicle went off the road, crashed into a mailbox and crashed into a tree and bush, the report states. Welsh was trapped inside the vehicle because of the tree falling on the vehicle. Welsh was extricated after firefighters removed the tree.

Welsh was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

Girard Municipal Court records indicate Welsh pleaded no contest to the failure to comply, a misdemeanor, in January 2022. He was placed on probation through November of 2023. It’s unclear what happened to his other charges.