Man Who Set Himself on Fire at National Mall Identified

John Constantino suffered from mental illness
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2013 12:55 AM CDT
Updated Oct 8, 2013 7:03 AM CDT
DC Self-Immolator Was New Jersey Man, 64
People run to a man who set himself on fire on the National Mall in Washington last Friday.   (AP Photo/Katy Scheflen, File)

Police have identified the man who set him self ablaze on the National Mall last week—but they have been unable to identify his motive. DC police say the man was John Constantino, a 64-year-old from Mount Laurel, New Jersey, the AP reports. Constantino, who died at a hospital after pouring gasoline on himself and setting himself on fire in the center of the mall last Friday, was so badly burned that he had to be identified through DNA and dental records. "His death was not a political act or statement, but the result of a long battle with mental illness," his family says in a statement, according to the Washington Post. (More John Constantino stories.)

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