Posted on 03/28/2017 3:50:57 PM PDT by Gamecock
The man who set himself and his car on fire in the parking lot of Lafayette's Walmart in front of dozens of horrified shoppers has died, Lafayette police Chief Rick Bashor said Monday.
The man, whose identity has not been released, started driving around the parking lot in a beige Toyota Corolla shortly after 5:20 p.m. Sunday, and asked witnesses to film him as he set himself on fire, police said.
He cited years of harassment from the FBI as the reason for his self-immolation, according to video of the incident filmed by a bystander at the man's request.
The Daily Camera has viewed the video, which was taken moments after the man was extinguished by bystanders and was still awaiting medical assistance, but has chosen not to release the footage due to its graphic content.
"I got in trouble 11 years ago, and ever since (the FBI has) been completely harassing me," the man told a visibly upset onlooker. "They never let me sleep. All I'm doing is trying to make ends meet and all they're trying to do is (expletive)
Prior to that footage being filmed, the man stopped near the store entrance, doused himself with gasoline inside the car and lit himself and the car on fire, Lafayette police said. The man then got out of the car and yelled at bystanders not to extinguish the fire.
Several citizens put out the flames by covering the man with jackets, according to footage in a separate video.
David Bach, who was shopping at Walmart at the time and took the video showing the man's statement, said the minutes following the incident were filled with panic and confusion.
"I heard a lady screaming and sprinting into the store and my first reaction was that someone had a gun," Bach said Monday. "I expected to see someone hit with a car or having a heart attack.
"What I saw was a man completely engulfed in flames slowly walking across the parking lot with his hands up."
After several bystanders were able to extinguish the flames, Bach said the man was left completely alone while people tried to put out the still-burning car.
"I thought that it was wrong for him to be sitting there alone in that state," Bach said. "He was sitting Indian-style and was completely coherent. All his skin and clothes had burned off and he was smoldering.
"He said, 'I want you to record me and I want to get my message out,'" Bach said.
The man stated that he had fallen into trouble with the FBI more than a decade ago and had been harassed ever since, according to the video.
The Camera could not verify the claims made in the video.
"It was all very disturbing," Bach said. "The fact that someone could get to that point in their life and in their head where they would do something that drastic is just sad and disturbing."
Tanja Carter, a witness who saw the man after he was pulled from the car, said Sunday that he was burned from head to toe.
The man was taken by helicopter to University of Colorado Hospital with second- and third-degree burns, according to police. He succumbed to his injuries late Monday afternoon, Bashor wrote in an email.
The Boulder County Coroner's Office will release the man's identity once next of kin have been notified.
A heluva way to go.
I know many me included have some snarky comments right at our fingertips, but this just seems tragic in so many ways.
Prayers for his soul and his family.
Fedgov, we’re here to help!
Did he die or just run out of gas?
You do know that you can REFUSE that request, no need to feed a delusional man's mental disorder. Unless he proclaims himself to be a girlie, then no dissent is allowed.
Most of the time suicides (jumpers, pills, guns, hanging/asphyxiation) don’t make the news (they are deliberately kept OUT of the news) unless they include murder/suicide, suicide by cop, or a celebrity.
And when someone kills themselves, their message is kept OUT of the media (to keep from feeding the notion that this is how to get on tv). But viral videos are the new thing so snuff films are now legit.
Chances are, this was simply a sad case of a man with paranoid anxieties, possible with a history of schizophrenia.
There is also a chance that what he said had some modicum of truth to it.
During the Obama Years, there was a strong push to encourage
voters to accept stricter gun possession laws. Some speculated that that Administration had some manner of influencing individuals who were already in a mentally vulnerable state. Ever since the episodes of James Holmes aka The Joker and Adam Lanza, aka The Sandy Hook Murderer,
I don’t know what to think.
Have you noticed how since Donald Trump became President, the number and the frequency of mass shootings on American soil has gone way, way down? I have.
“Give a man a fire and he’s warm for a day, but set fire to him and he’s warm for the rest of his life.”
I've been teaching this for 12 years: Family-to-Family and hate when I hear stories like this. Too often is is someone suffering with mental illness and not getting the help they so desperately need.
horrible painful way to die.....
guy must have been totally mental
Where was this? It’s unclear in the article.
Well I guess that was the point.
Boulder County, Lafayette, Colorado
It Happens
At least he didn’t die cold.
I am reminded of Dr. Bruce Ivins.
I don’t know the history of this man, but the FBI does have a history of harassing people until they break.
I’m sure the FBI doesn’t harass people. The FBI? Never. Nope. Not at all. Never.
I would say he is crazy, but seeing the absolute asshat who runs the FBI, I believe him.
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