“I don’t want to kill myself or harm anyone, get back! Get back!”
Those desperate words proved to be glaringly contradictory to the actions of an irate and agitated man in a rental van outside of Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
A few tense moments later, he doused himself in gasoline, and after a brief attempt to ram his vehicle past a police blockade, he raised a lighter and set himself on fire before shocked bystanders and cops.
The man was rapidly engulfed as he disappeared behind a searing orange veil of flames.
Emergency crews responded with admirable speed, smashing the windows of the van and pulling the victim to the ground, where after much effort, the inferno was finally doused.
“He set himself on fire, which I couldn't believe,” said witness Michael Snary. “This is not like something you see every day,” he understated.
The standoff began at around 12:30pm, as farmers were protesting at Queen's Park. The man, who is believed to be 50-years-old, was not connected to the demonstration.
It's believed the distraught driver may have asked police to shoot him, in a scenario known as 'suicide by cop'.
"I don’t want to kill myself!” he screamed at one point. "I want you to kill me."
Apparently, he ran out of patience, choosing flames as his weapon of choice. And as one Toronto firefighter explained, extinguishing them would prove difficult.
"He kept re-igniting because he was so soaked in gas," he relayed.
The entire standoff lasted around forty minutes, with police desperately trying to communicate with the man, to no avail.
At one point he threw several yellow envelopes out of the window, but it’s not known what was in them. He was also seen holding up a sign which appeared to read 'Police tortured people registered at Old City Hall.'
The man was transported to Sunnybrook hospital, where as of Wednesday night, he remained in critical condition.
