How did Dally die?

Dally ran off after the rumble, and proceeded to rob a grocery store. Later, Dally calls from a payphone and says he's running from the cops. The gang rushes out of the house. The boys arrive at the vacant lot just as Dally does, from the opposite direction. The police pull up in their cars and jump out. Dally pulls his gun out and raises it; the policemen fire at him, killing him. Ponyboy realizes that Dally had wanted them to kill him. Dally has died "violent and young and desperate," but "he died gallant." Then Ponyboy does pass out