MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Rescue crews rushed a man to the hospital after, officials said, he set himself on fire in Miami Gardens, Tuesday evening.
Miami Gardens Police, Opa-locka Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue were dispatched just before 7:40 p.m. to a Caraf Oil gas station in the area of Northwest 22nd Avenue and 157th Street.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident was an attempted suicide.
Officials on the scene said the man bought $4 to $5 worth of gas, doused himself with gasoline and then set himself on fire at the gas station.
A cellphone video caught the horrifying sight as the victim moved to the middle of the street.
The man, who is in his late 30s, is said to be well known in the neighborhood.
Witnesses said they are still in disbelief.
“I was in tears. I couldn’t believe it,” said witness Rickiya Lewis.
Several people passed by and stopped in their tracks to help, even pouring milk on the burning man.
“I just pulled up and I saw [him] in a ball of fire and I jumped out. I jumped out my truck. I just wanted to aid him,” said Lewis. “I even attempted to go buy more milk because the other guys were pouring milk on him to stop the skin from continuously melting off his body.”
The victim was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in unknown condition, as police and firefighters continue their investigation.
Witnesses said the victim was talking as he was transported.
“He gonna come back. Everybody love [him] in the community. We all fighting for him. He’s homeless but that don’t make him. He still gonna be out here. He gonna come back,” said witness Lynnesha Brown.
“He was out here by himself,” said George Emmanuel, who knows the victim. “You know, everybody that raised him and was around him, they gone now.”
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.