Macungie Man Kills Self in Front of Police Station

A 39-year-old Macungie man shot and killed himself in front of the borough police station early Monday, according to Macungie Police Chief Ed Harry. 

The Lehigh County Coroner is withholding the man's identity pending notification of next of kin.

We may never know why the man killed himself or did so in front of the police station, Harry said. 

The man was found on the sidewalk by the night patrol officer just before 2 a.m., Harry said.

The officer, who had just left for patrol, forgot something and briefly went back into the station at 21 Locust Street. When the officer came out, the officer saw the man lying on the sidewalk.

“At first, the officer wasn’t sure if the person had fallen and was hurt or what the situation was,” Harry said, adding that it was a very rainy.

Once the officer got closer, the officer realized the man had a gunshot wound. The officer alerted EMS, who took the man to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, where he was pronounced dead at 2:44 a.m. The coroner ruled the cause of death suicide.

“We don’t know what his intent was, and why he was here,” Harry said. “I don’t know if we ever will. Hopefully when we talk to his family, some of his friends, they will be able to shed some light on it.”

Harry said that the man never had any “run-ins” with Macungie Police.  “We never arrested him,” he said.

There are no video cameras outside of the police department to provide any further evidence of what happened.