VIDEO: Suicidal Texas Man Torches Car, Injures Responding Officers
Two police officers and the driver of a vehicle were injured in a car fire in Austin, Texas, early Tuesday morning.
Police said the man called 911 saying he planned to commit suicide by setting himself and his car on fire.
Officers arrived at the Texaco Gas Station at Interstate 35 and Stassney Lane around 2 a.m. and found 47-year-old Andrew Guerrero outside the car. Officers said they asked him to come over, but he instead rushed inside the car that had apparently been doused in combustible substance.
As the two officers tried to get him out, police said Guerrero lit a cigarette lighter, causing the car to explode. The force of the explosion knocked one officer back five feet and hurled the suspect out of the car, but he got back in. Investigators said that was a clear sign that he wanted to commit suicide, KVUE TV.