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DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — An 81-year old man died in an explosion he set off intentionally in his third-floor room at a home for senior citizens, police said Tuesday.
Larry Gene Thurman was killed about 9:30 p.m. Monday at Summer Manor Apartments, a complex managed by the Decatur Housing Authority.
“It was determined that the explosion was the result of the intentional detonation of a homemade incendiary device,” Decatur police Sgt. Rick Archer said.
The housing authority evacuated about 75 residents to a nearby motel, and one with a medical condition was taken to a hospital as a precaution, officials said.
Decatur Fire Marshal Darwin Clark told The Associated Press there were a number of volatile liquids and gases in the apartment. He said investigators aren’t clear exactly how the explosives were detonated or what the motive might have been.
“We don’t know why would an 81-year-old man have these liquids in a housing complex for the elderly,” Clark said. “We know no motive. No reason.”
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is probably the most unusual thing I’ve seen,” Clark said.
He said there were some fireworks with fuses found in the apartment along with the volatile liquids and gases.
Shirley Chandler, who lives in the apartment building, told The Decatur Daily she was watching television with her husband when she heard a loud noise that sounded like thunder or an explosion.
When fire investigators left the building late Monday they were carrying at least one propane tank like those used in grilling and a crate containing several plastic jugs. One window shattered in the explosion, but the apartment complex otherwise appeared to be undamaged.
Authorities said Thurman’s body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy.
Local News
Police: 81-year-old set off device that killed him
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