Man Who Set Himself Afire at UCSD Succumbs

The 34-year-old man who set himself afire on the plaza at UC San Diego’s Central Library Sunday night died at 4 a.m. Monday at UCSD Medical Center.

According to UCSD Police Chief John Anderson, Steven Roberts doused himself with white gasoline at 7:15 p.m. Sunday and was burning for several minutes before students and campus police could extinguish the flames. Roberts suffered third-degree burns on more than 90% of his body and was flown by Life Flight helicopter to the hospital.

Anderson said that Roberts, who was not a UCSD student, was “despondent over his financial situation” and had been living in his car with his girlfriend since they had come to San Diego two months ago. He had an Encinitas post office box, campus police said. Roberts had been attending school in Washington, D.C., and apparently was a candidate for a doctoral degree, campus police said.

Roberts’ burning body was first seen by a passing student, who quickly informed campus police. Students nearby attempted to smother the flames with wet sweatshirts and rolled Roberts on the ground. A few minutes later a UCSD police officer arrived and put the fire out with an extinguisher, Anderson said.

“The students who responded did a tremendous job in extinguishing the fire,” a campus police officer said.

When San Diego County paramedics arrived, Roberts was unconscious and without a pulse, but the paramedics were able to revive him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. About 30 students watched as he was wrapped in a burn bag and taken by ambulance to a Life Flight helicopter, which had landed between the campus police station and a playing field.

Roberts was put on a respirator in the burn unit, according to hospital spokeswoman Sheri Smith who said he was one of the worst burn cases the center had treated. “There was really nothing else we could do,” Smith said. Roberts died six hours later.

“We have pretty much determined what happened, but we still don’t really know why,” Anderson said Monday. “We’re still looking into it.”

Roberts’ girlfriend, a 19-year-old Mesa College student whose name was not released by police, was waiting for him in their car in the library’s parking lot when the incident occurred. She was held overnight at the campus police station while police tried to contact her parents in Washington, D.C., and find a place for her to stay, Anderson said.