Man Shoots Himself After Setting Fire to Home

A fire that broke out Wednesday at a home was apparently set by a 60-year-old man who later shot himself, according to police.

The man was found in his home at around 2:55 p.m. after firefighters responded to a call for a fire at 19 Reedwood Drive, according to Joliet Police Chief Brian Benton.

Sign up for the Patch newsletter

Joliet Deputy Chief Ed Gregory said the man’s death has been ruled as a suicide. According to Gregory, neighbors had seen the fire and attempted to pull the man from the house, but he wrestled away from them and ran back inside.

“When the neighbors were outside, they heard a gunshot inside the home,” Gregory said. Nobody else was in the home at the time.

Gregory said an expended shotgun casing was found in the home, as well as a shotgun. The man was found with a gunshot wound to the chest.

The man’s name has not yet been released.