MINNESOTA ? A shocked silence hung over a southern Minnesota town on Christmas Eve as residents wrestled with news of a shootout that left an Amboy man dead and a Mankato police officer seriously wounded.

Jeffrey Skjervold, 41, shot himself to death early Sunday morning after police tear-gassed his home about a mile west of Amboy, authorities said at a brief Sunday news conference.

Skjervold’s apparent suicide came after a 7 1/2-hour standoff that began as a domestic dispute between him and his wife and ended with more than 50 state and local police officers on the scene.

Earlier, officials said, Skjervold shot two police officers in the head, one of whom was probably saved by his helmet. Chris Nelson, 44, of the St. Peter Police Department was resting at home Sunday with his family, authorities said.

The other officer, 37-year-old Robert Sadusky of the Mankato Police Department, was in serious condition after head surgery at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. Sadusky was conscious Sunday afternoon and talking to his family, said a Mankato police spokesman. Sadusky, a 7 1/2-year veteran of the force, is married and has two sons, ages 12 and 14.