Man Set Himself on Fire Before Setting Church Ablaze, Killing Maryland Pastor
New surveillance footage reveals that a man who ran into a Maryland church's food pantry on fire, sending the building into flames and killing the pastor, doused himself in gasoline prior to entering the church in an apparent murder-suicide.
Ocean City Police say that John Sterner had been given food and clothes previously by St. Paul's By-The-Sea Episcopal Church pastor, Reverend David Dingwall, before he set himself on fire and entered the building while volunteers were setting up a Thanksgiving food bank, according to CBS Baltimore.
"We don't have any idea of his motivation other than we are fairly certain that he intended to take his own life," said Capt. Mike Colbert of the Ocean City Police Department.
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Authorities have currently ruled Sterner's death a suicide and Dingwall's a homicide. They also revealed that Sterner threw himself at food bank volunteer Dana Truitt as he ran into the building. Truitt is currently recovering from burns that have covered 20 percent of her body.
"Her chest area got burnt, her shoulders, her back in her thighs," Crystal Rees, Truitt's sister, told CBS Baltimore.
In recently released surveillance video, Sterner is shown buying a gas can and gasoline roughly several blocks from the church and about 20 minutes before the blaze at the church occurred.
"There's probably a 20-25 minute lapse, but you know, a lot of that has to do with the travel distance on foot and then we have other video that picks him up behind the church," Colbert said.
According to court records, Sterner was homeless and had previously been arrested for assault and drug possession.
While the fire quickly broke out into a three-alarm blaze, once fire crews arrived on scene they managed to bring it under control quickly. The main worship center survived the blaze.
