BATH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLNS) — Today at the scene in the 4800 block of Clark Road, the smell of smoke still filled the air with only burned pieces of the barn left behind.
“They were telling him if you have something going on come out, we’ll talk to you,” a neighbor said.
A woman who lives next door to the scene in Bath Township and didn’t want her face or name on TV recalls what unfolded in the early hours Tuesday.
Police said a man barricaded himself inside a barn for hours — the barn later caught fire with the man inside and that’s where police found his body.
“I was at home, and we saw all of the police cars in front of our house and at the neighbors. I saw one of the neighbors was running,” she said.
The woman told us she saw a scared, young woman running from the house, and as a mother, she knew she had to help.
“Are you okay? Do you need some water? Are you hurt? Are you safe? I need you to be safe, so you can come inside. I could not imagine if that was my daughter, my granddaughter, my sister, my niece anybody to have to go through that trauma.”
She said she hugged the young woman and offered her and a family member a chair on her porch.
“She was in shock I could tell she was scared. She was scared,” the neighbor said.
Police have not confirmed if there was anyone else with the man before the standoff but the neighbor we spoke with said she heard multiple gunshots and police pleading with the man to come out of the barn.
“It was very scary, and I just wanted her to be safe. Then I’m not sure what happened, I heard some more gunshots and the next thing you know we saw smoke and then everybody was gone. It’s just a sad situation.”
6 News did reach out to Bath Township Police for more details about the man, how the fire started, and if police were called out to the residence before. We are still waiting to hear back.
