Man Dies After Setting Himself on Fire on National Mall

A D.C. police spokesman said the man who set himself on fire on the National Mall has died of his injuries.

The incident was reported around 4:30 p.m. Friday at the corner of Jefferson Drive and 7th Street SW, near the Air and Space Museum.

Witnesses told NBC Washington's Mark Segraves they saw a man pouring gasoline on himself, then possibly setting himself on fire. Several joggers nearby ripped their shirts off in an attempt to subdue the flames.

The man, identified as 64-year-old John Constantino of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, was airlifted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where he died Friday night.

The incident comes a day after Capitol Police shot and killed an unarmed woman following a high-speed chase that started outside the White House, where she had tried to ram a gate with her car, and ended near the Capitol. Nearly three weeks ago, a man opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 people.

Tensions in the nation's capital are already high, as Congress works through the fourth day of the first government shutdown in 17 years. 

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