A 43-year-old Dolton, Missouri man who set himself on fire after being stopped by police Wednesday night has died of his injuries. Chillicothe Police Chief Jon Maples says the incident began at about 6:35 pm, when they received information of a man attempting to buy lighters while carrying a container of flammable liquid. The man was driving a retired and repainted school bus.
A short time later, dispatch received a report of a careless and imprudent driver of a bus headed north on US 65, into Chillicothe. The officers met the bus at the south junction and it was traveling at a high rate of speed. The officers were able to stop the bus in a parking lot in the 900 block of South Washington Street.
Maples says the driver ran to the back of the bus. Because the windows were heavily tinted, Officers could not see what the driver was doing. While the driver remained out of officers’ sight, and officers continued requesting he exit the bus, the driver poured flammable liquid on himself, ignited that liquid and ran from bus toward officers. The officers retrieved fire extinguishers from their vehicles and put out the fire.
EMS was called and the man was treated and later flown to Kansas City where he died of his injuries.
Chillicothe Police are continuing to investigate as they try to determine the driver’s intentions.
