Man Who Gassed Self in Seekonk Identified

said Monday that was 60-year-old Thomas Walsh, who lived on Edward Avenue in Rumford, R.I.

Walsh left a note confirming his death was a suicide, a press release from the Seekonk Police Department states. Fire Chief Alan Jack said Friday that he believed the death was a suicide.

Walsh was found in his 1985 Pontiac Grand Am by three Seekonk boys who were bike riding in the lot. Posted on the vehicle were notes stating that there was poisonous gas in the vehicle, the doors should not be opened and somebody should call 911. One of the boys called authorities.

After Seekonk police officers arrived and confirmed the toxic situation, the Seekonk Fire Department and a state Hazmat team were contacted. The press release states:

The Hazmat team arrived and conferred with fire and police personnel. An evaluation of the scene was conducted and a systematic plan of action was enacted. The plan first entailed taking air samples around the vehicle before entering it. The team then broke the windows on the car to allow further testing of the vehicle interior. Tests indicated the presence of hydrogen sulfide.

The decedent was removed from the car and moved to a decontamination tent. The remaining chemical material was removed from the car and neutralized. The car interior was decontaminated prior to being towed away.

Jack told the media at a press conference Friday night that had an unprotected person opened the door, he or she "would be in serious jeopardy."

Nobody else but Walsh was injured or killed and there was no evacuation of nearby areas. However, the adjacent carnival was not allowed to open and an access road to nearby Greenbrier Estates was briefly closed because of its location downwind from the scene.

Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound that can kill somebody within a few breaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health's website. Jack said that it is not difficult to make if a person has the two ingredients.

Editor's Note: The press release from the Seekonk Police Department is attached to this article.