Man Who Set Himself on Fire Outside Donald Trump Trial Is Dead

The man, who set himself on fire on April 19, has been identified by authorities as Maxwell Azzarello, 37

A man who set himself on fire outside Donald Trump's trial at a Manhattan courthouse has died from his injuries, police say.

The man, who authorities have identified as 37-year-old Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, died in hospital, New York City Police confirmed to PEOPLE on April 20. Azzarello suffered severe burns sustained after self-immolating on April 19 outside the courtroom where Trump's trial on hush money charges is taking place.

Police said in a news conference after the incident on April 19, per CBS news, that at 1:30 p.m. Azzarello entered Collect Pond Park, which is located “directly opposite” the courthouse where Trump’s trial is taking place. He threw up “pamphlets" in the air before pulling out a canister, dousing himself in a liquid police believe was an “accelerant” and setting himself on fire. He then took a few steps and fell to the ground, police said.

Azzarello was tended to by “civilians, court officers, members of the police department” who ran in the park and “used their coats” and "fire extinguishers" before the FDNY responded and were able to put the blaze out, Chief of the New York Police Department, Jeffrey Maddrey, said. Azzarello was transported to a Cornell burn center in critical condition.

Related: Man Sets Himself on Fire Outside Donald Trump's Manhattan Trial

The NYPD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

During the April 19 press conference, authorities added that there were three NYPD officers and one court officer who suffered “minor injuries” from being exposed to the fire and who were in stable condition.

Witnesses and family members informed authorities that Azzarello had traveled to New York from Florida earlier in the week. Some other family members, however, shared with authorities that they weren’t aware of him making the trip.

Everyone involved in the trial inside the courthouse was also informed of the incident, authorities said. According to NBC News, the incident took place “just before the court took a lunch break.”

Azzarello didn’t breach security checkpoints to access the park as it is public to visitors, police stated during the April 19 press conference. The park has been attracting protesters and reporters all week amid Trump’s trial, which started on Monday, April 15.

On the afternoon of April 19, reporters from various outlets including Fox News, CNN and MSNBC detailed the incident on social media from the park, from where they had been reporting live about the trial.

One Fox reporter said, "There's a fire that has started, as you can see live … we wonder if a person is on fire." They then asked the crew, "Do we have a fire extinguisher in the truck?" 

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A 73-year-old witness and local resident told NBC News of the incident, “I heard this clattering, that caught our attention. Then he pulled out a can. There I thought, this could be awful. I’m old enough to remember the Vietnam War.”

Freelance photojournalist Ed Quinn added to the outlet, “I heard someone scream, ‘He’s going to light himself on fire.’ I see him dumping gasoline on his face, very deliberately. He had [a] gray t-shirt on. It soaked his face. It soaked his shirt. Boom, he went up.”

“Women were begging, screaming, put it out, put him out,” he added.

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