Early Thursday morning, tragedy struck as a man died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound while firefighters battled a blaze at his home in Buford, near the Hall-Gwinnett County line. According to FOX5 Atlanta, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services responded to a house fire report on the 3000 block of North Bogan Road NE around 6:54 a.m., arriving minutes later to find the home engulfed in heavy smoke and flames.
In an unexpected turn of events as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, they encountered a man in the woods behind the burning home who told them it was vacant; this man was later seen with a shotgun – he did not threaten anyone nor did he impede the efforts of the fire crew, while police subsequently established a perimeter and firefighters brought the fire under control by 7:26 a.m., raising questions and casting an ominous shadow on the morning’s erratic chain of events that unfolded. Atlanta News First reported that after extinguishing the fire, the authorities found a body on a nearby property, later identified as the man previously spotted.
The deceased has not been named pending notification of next of kin, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated. Investigators have indicated that the man appeared to have died by suicide, with the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office tasked to confirm the cause of death…