COVINGTON, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News has received security video of a horrific scene inside a Newton County Kroger where a man set himself on fire in the middle of the grocery store.
It is 10 seconds of video that is chilling to watch.
Security video from inside Kroger on Highway 278 in Covington showed the police officers doing everything they can do to save Timothy Singleton Tuesday.
But, at one point in the video, Singleton is seen fighting off three officers as he used a lighter to set himself on fire. Seconds later, a puff of smoke from a fire extinguisher used on Singleton is visible. A Kroger manager used it to put the man out. Officers then dragged the Singleton to safety.
"She was trying to arrest the gentleman. She knew that he had a lighter. She and all three of the officers were trying to get their hands on him as quickly as possible to detain, subdue him to where they could get lighter out of his hands," said Covington police Capt. Ken Malcom.
The security video also revealed Singelton entering the store and going to the aisle where the rubbing alcohol is kept before a desperate struggle .
"We knew he had doused himself with some type of flammable material so that told us we could not use certain tools, in this case a Taser, because it could create a spark and could ignite the gentleman with what he did," Malcom said.
The officers suffered minor burns to their arms and the man had second-degree burns on his body.
"One thing we saw when we arrived was people running from the scene when we were running into the scene. That's the basic function of the police officer having to run into a dangerous situation," Malcom said.
Police said they still don't have an explanation for the man's outburst.
WSBTV
