Police: Man shoots himself in neighbor’s backyard

COLEBROOKDALE » A reportedly suicidal male shot himself in a neighbor’s backyard in Colebrookdale Township shortly after police responded Thursday night to a domestic incident in his home, authorities said Friday.

Eastern Berks Regional police officers responded to the 600 block of Englesville Road, near Boyertown Community

Park, about 7:20 p.m.

Berks County Chief County Detective Michael J. Gombar gave the following account in a release:

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

The male emerged in a backyard in the 500 block of Englesville Road and fired the gun. Moments later, officers found the male with a single gunshot wound in what appeared to be a suicide attempt.

Officers immediately called for a medic. An ambulance crew responded and took the victim to a medical helicopter that had landed in the Boyertown Middle School West parking lot. He was flown to a nearby hospital.

Detectives recovered the gun, processed the scene for evidence and conducted interviews.

Police cordoned off part of the neighborhood.

On social media, residents said they heard a shot. The initial dispatch indicated the victim was found with a gunshot wound to the head.

Information on his medical condition was unavailable, but

“The Berks County District Attorney’s Office wants the Colebrookdale Township residents and community to know there is no further threat or danger. This was an isolated incident involving one male.”

— Berks County Chief County Detective Michael J. Gombar

he reportedly was listed as critical late Thursday.

“The Berks County District Attorney’s Office wants the Colebrookdale Township residents and community to know there is no further threat or danger,” Gombar said in a press release. “This was an isolated incident involving one male.”