Man dies after setting himself on fire in front of the Supreme Court, police say

Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by like_a_wet_dog

A man has died after setting himself on fire in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday night, Metropolitan Police said Saturday. The court said to CBS News in a statement Friday there were no other injuries, and there did not appear to be a public safety concern.

Police identified the man as 50-year-old Wynn Bruce, of Boulder, Colorado, and said he died of his injuries after being airlifted to a hospital following the incident. At approximately 6:30 p.m., he went on to the plaza in front of the court building and set himself on fire, the court said. The court did not offer any specifics on the person or what their motivation may have been.

Supreme Court Police, U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department responded to the incident, the court said, and a medical helicopter airlifted the person to a local hospital.

"The area remains closed for further investigation, but this is not a public safety issue," the court said.

The incident came on a chaotic day in Washington D.C., where earlier Friday, multiple people were shot on a busy street. The suspect died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to officials.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email [email protected].

smokeynorthwest on April 24th, 2022 at 00:03 UTC »

I worked in a Burn Unit, self immolation was horrible and too frequent.

Elia_31 on April 23rd, 2022 at 22:46 UTC »

What fucks me up is that he lived for 1+ year knowing what he was going to do, how he was going to die, and still going through with it.

MonaSherry on April 23rd, 2022 at 21:18 UTC »

It seems it was a climate protest, especially since it was on Earth Day, and he posted the date of his death under a climate article in 2020

https://twitter.com/rebs_field/status/1517945042660253701?s=21&t=llbwc6tq0fnNh7rAxXJuig

https://twitter.com/stevesilberman/status/1517936564117987329?s=21&t=llbwc6tq0fnNh7rAxXJuig