4 Shoppers Hurt as Man Sets Self Afire at Mall
A man shouting “freedom and liberty for all” set himself on fire in a Cherry Valley mall and hurled flaming objects at shoppers before he was subdued and hospitalized in critical condition, officials said. Four shoppers also were injured.
Witnesses said the man, identified by authorities as Richard Lewis, 27, was yelling about freedom as he leaned from a mezzanine railing and threw burning packages onto the CherryVale Mall’s center court. The fire was just outside the second-floor entrance to a department store in the Rockford suburb.
Two shoppers subdued Lewis and put out the fire. Security guards put out the burning packages.
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