# Man Dies After Setting Himself On Fire Near The White House



## Laela (May 30, 2019)

Arnav Gupta. (Montgomery County Police)

By Peter Hermann and  Dan Morse
May 30 at 1:08 PM

A Maryland man who set himself on fire Wednesday afternoon on the Ellipse near the White House has died, according to U.S. Park Police.

The incident occurred about 12:20 p.m. near 15th Street NW and Constitution Avenue NW.

The man was taken to a hospital Wednesday and was in critical condition. On Thursday morning, Park Police officials said he had died.

Officials identified the man as Arnav Gupta, 33, of Bethesda. His family reported him missing to Montgomery County Police on Wednesday morning, and authorities put out a notice asking for the public’s help in finding him.

He was last seen by his family around 9:20 a.m. when he left his home on Cindy Lane, about 10 miles northwest of the White House. Montgomery County Police said the family was “concerned for Gupta’s physical and emotional welfare.”

Kevin Boland, a neighbor, said he had known Gupta since Boland moved onto Cindy Lane in Bethesda seven years ago.

“He really couldn’t have been a nicer kid,” Boland said. He said Gupta had always struck him as smart. Boland said he had not seen much of Gupta over the last year-and-a-half and had started to wonder if he’d moved out.

Boland said Gupta never expressed any extreme political views that might have somehow motivated him. He said the incident seemed inexplicable and was heartbreaking.

“This is a tragedy,” Boland said.

Authorities are trying to identify the accelerant that was used and determine whether a car belonging to Gupta was parked in the area.

D.C. police have taken over the investigation. Park Police initially assumed jurisdiction because the Ellipse is a national park.

A 17-year-old girl from Alexandria, Va., who was sightseeing with a cousin visiting from Bolivia, saw part of the incident and captured it on video. She sent it to her father, who posted it on Twitter.

The video shows smoke billowing from the lawn near a guard shack and some flames visible above parked cars.

The girl’s father, Krisjan Berzins, said in an interview that his daughter saw “Secret Service agents running toward him trying to extinguish the fire.”

In April, authorities said a man riding a motorized wheelchair set his jacket on fire outside the White House. He was not critically injured and was involuntarily committed for psychiatric help.


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (May 30, 2019)

Omg, how horrific.


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## SoniT (May 30, 2019)

That's crazy. I saw the video on the news yesterday.


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## Charmingchick1 (May 30, 2019)

This is awful.  I was so traumatized seeing the picture of the man in flames online.  We are becoming so desensitized it’s ridiculous.


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## Laela (May 30, 2019)

Goes to show you never know what's going on in someone's mind.. he had some protective gear on so he could walk across the lawn; he's from Bethesda but came all the way to the WH to do this?... so there's a reason he did it there. So tragic, I feel for his family!
Efforts to breach the WH grounds have been increasing since 2014...


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