A man was rushed to the hospital Saturday afternoon after lighting himself on fire.
Sometime before 1 p.m., police, fire and emergency crews were called to the Village Pantry on College Avenue in Shelby where an unnamed man lit himself on fire in what is believed to be an attempted suicide.
�He had just gotten some sort of cancer diagnosis. After our first investigation, we believe that appears to be the motive,� said Lt. Todd Vickery with the Shelby Police Department.
After the man caught fire, multiple witnesses rushed to his aid and put the fire out before emergency crews were on scene. The man was airlifted to the burn unit at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem for treatment for his injuries.
Shortly after the incident, a video of the suicide attempt was uploaded to social media sites Snapchat and Facebook.
�We wish people would consider the family and what they are going through before they do that or share it. They are going through a tough time without that right now,� Vickery said.
