Man dies after shooting self, authorities say

A Colebrookdale Township man who authorities said shot himself in a neighbor’s backyard after police responded to a domestic disturbance in his home died June 26, officials said Monday, June 29.

Byron Woods, 21, was pronounced dead at 4:29 p.m. Friday, June 26, by a doctor in the Reading Hospital Trauma Center, Berks County Chief Deputy Coroner Jonn M. Hollenbach said.

A ruling on the cause and manner of death is pending an autopsy that was scheduled for Monday afternoon, June 29, in Reading Hospital.

Eastern Berks Regional Police officers responded to the 600 block of Englesville Road, near Boyertown Community Park, about 7:20 p.m. Thursday, June 25, for a report of a domestic incident involving a suicidal male.

Chief County Detective Michael J. Gombar gave the following account:

Officers made contact with Woods, who had a handgun. He immediately walked away from the officers toward the woods in the back of the property.

He emerged in a backyard in the 500 block of Englesville Road and fired the gun. Moments later, officers found him suffering from what appeared to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Officers immediately called for medics. An ambulance crew responded and took Woods to a medical helicopter that had landed in the Boyertown Middle School West parking lot.

Police cordoned off part of the neighborhood.

The initial dispatch indicated the victim was found with a gunshot wound to the head.