Alleged McKinney Police Sniper Patrick Sharp Committed Suicide, Autopsy Shows

MCKINNEY, Texas - Patrick Sharp, the man who ambushed police from a sniper's nest outside the McKinney police headquarters Tuesday morning, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the Collin County medical examiner.

At the same time another clue to Sharp's past emerged the day after his rampage in the Dallas suburb: the Associated Press reported that Sharp had been licensed to work in Texas law enforcement within the past nine years.

The AP says state records show the Texas Department of Public Safety licensed the 29-year-old to work as a security guard in 2004.

In 2001, he was licensed to work as a jailer  by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, the wire service reported.

Both licenses have since expired.

Police say on Tuesday morning, Sharp parked his pickup truck and a trailer outside the building around 9 a.m., and set the vehicle on fire to draw officers out of their headquarters on Taylor-Burk Drive.

Inside the truck were several hundred rounds of ammunition, which exploded in the fire. The trailer, which failed to ignite, contained wood chips, road flares, gasoline, and the flammable fertilizer ammonium nitrate, according to McKinney police chief Doug Kowalski.

Sharp hid in a nearby wooded area with an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a .45 caliber pistol, according to officers who discovered his body.

As officers came out of the building to investigate the fire, Sharp fired at them from his hiding place.

According to Kowalski, Sharp fired more than 100 rounds of ammunition at the building, but none of the rounds pierced the windows or doors. Amazingly, none of the officers were hurt.

Police returned fire from the parking lot and other strategic positions.

Today, detectives continue their investigation into the gunman's attack.

"We know who, what, when, where, and how, but we don’t know why," Kowalski said. "There's no clear cut motive at this time."

Officers searched Sharp's Anna home yesterday, but have not revealed what they discovered.

Stay tuned to FOX 4 News and myfoxdfw.com for further updates.

SEE ALSO:

• McKinney Sniper Identified as Patrick Sharp
  
• Shots Fired outside of McKinney PD