The man who died during a police standoff in Mexico on Sunday was killed by rounds fired by police, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Steven R. Piirainen, 52, of South Paris, died after exchanging gunfire with Maine State Police Trooper Paul Casey and Mexico Reserve Officer Dean Benson, according to a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Police at first said they could not determine for certain whether Piirainen died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound or after being shot by police, and referred inquiries to the state medical examiner.

That office on Tuesday afternoon said Piirainen died from gunshot wounds to the head and neck, but did not say how many times he was shot. It also said the wounds were not self-inflicted.

Piirainen allegedly stole a pickup truck in Paris and led police on a chase that ended about 7 p.m. Sunday at a convenience store in downtown Mexico, police said.

Officers from the state police, the Mexico and Rumford police departments, and deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office surrounded the pickup and closed off the area around the Circle K store on Main Street. Piirainen remained inside the pickup during the standoff and police didn’t confirm he was dead until shortly before 11 p.m. No police officers or bystanders were injured.

The Maine Attorney General’s Office is investigating the shooting, as it does in all uses of deadly force by police,

Piirainen had an extensive criminal record which included convictions for burglary, felony theft, domestic violence and aggravated assault, and he faced pending charges of theft, burglary to a motor vehicle and criminal trespass, according to the State Bureau of Identification.

David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Mainehenchman