At least 7 killed, 20 hurt by erupting volcano in Guatemala

One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. An undetermined number were missing, and authorities feared the toll could rise.

Volcanic ash covers parked motorcycles, brought by the Fuego Volcano, in Antigua Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. Volcan del Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Guatemala's Volcan de Fuego, Spanish for "volcano of fire," exploded shortly before noon. Hours later, around 4 p.m., lava began flowing down the side of the mountain. Eddy Sanchez, director of the country's seismology and volcanology institute, said the flows reached temperatures of about 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 Celsius).

Video images published by Sacatepezuez television showed a charred landscape where a lava flow came into contact with homes. Three bodies lay partially buried in ash-colored debris from the volcano, which lies about 27 miles (44 kilometers) from Guatemala City.

City workers sweep volcanic ash brought by the Volcan del Fuego, in Guatemala City, Sunday, June 3, 2018. Volcan del Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Other videos from local media showed residents walking barefoot and covered in muddy residue.

"Not everyone was able to get out. I think they ended up buried," Consuelo Hernandez, a resident of the village of El Rodeo, told the newspaper Diario de Centroamerica.

"Where we saw the lava fall, we ran to a hillside" to escape, she added.

Hundreds of rescue workers, including firefighters, police and soldiers worked to recover bodies from the still-smoking lava.

Firefighters said they had seen some people who were trapped, but roads leading to the area were cut by pyroclastic flows and they had been unable to reach it. In darkness and rain, the rescue effort was ordered suspended until early morning, municipal firefighters spokesman Cecilio Chacaj said.

Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, blows outs a thick cloud of ash, as seen from Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

National Disaster Coordinator Sergio Cabanas said seven people were confirmed dead and an unknown number were unaccounted for.

Among the fatalities were four people, including a disaster agency official, killed when lava set a house on fire in El Rodeo village, Cabanas said. Two children were burned to death as they watched the volcano's second eruption this year from a bridge, he added.

Another victim was found in the streets of El Rodeo by volunteer firefighters, but the person died in an ambulance.

At an ad-hoc morgue in the town of Alotenango, at least three bodies lay covered with blue sheets.

Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, blows outs a thick cloud of ash, as seen from Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Guatemala's disaster agency said 3,100 people had evacuated nearby communities, and ash fall from the eruption was affecting an area with a population of about 1.7 million of the country's 15 million or so people. Shelters were opened for those forced to flee.

"Currently the volcano continues to erupt and there exists a high potential for (pyroclastic) avalanches of debris," the disaster agency said via Twitter, quoting Sanchez, the director of the seismology and volcanology institute.

It added that he said authorities began to send bulletins on the situation starting at 11:30 a.m.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said he would issue a declaration of a state of emergency to be approved by Congress and urged people to heed warnings from emergency officials.

Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, blows outs a thick cloud of ash, as seen from Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Santiago Billy)

Ash was falling on the Guatemala City area as well as the departments of Sacatepequez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla, which are in south-central Guatemala around the volcano. Streets and houses were covered in the colonial town of Antigua, a popular tourist destination.

Aviation authorities closed the capital's international airport because of the danger posed to planes by the ash.

The conical Volcan de Fuego reaches an altitude of 12,346 feet (3,763 meters) above sea level at its peak.

Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, blows outs a thick cloud of ash, as seen from Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Santiago Billy)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A firefighter covers bodies laying in a temporary morgue near Volcan de Fuego or Volcano of Fire in Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing at least six people and injuring 20 while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Neighbors stand outside a temporary morgue near Volcan de Fuego or Volcano of Fire in Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

Firefighters leave the evacuation area near Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, in El Rodeo, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Santiago Billy)

Police block a route affected by the ash expelled by Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, in El Rodeo, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing people and injuring many others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Santiago Billy)

Ruth Rivas, who says she has two missing children, is consoled by a neighbor in a shelter near the Volcan de Fuego or Volcano of Fire in Alotenango, Guatemala, Sunday, June 3, 2018. One of Central America's most active volcanos erupted in fiery explosions of ash and molten rock Sunday, killing several people and injuring multiple others while a towering cloud of smoke blanketed nearby villages in heavy ash. (AP Photo/Luis Soto)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal investigation has concluded that a young Black man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a rural Missouri home, not at the hands of the white homeowner who had a history of racist social media postings, an FBI official told The Associated Press Wednesday.

Derontae Martin, 19, was at a prom party on April 25, 2021, when he died in an attic closet. The death was initially ruled a suicide. Relatives of Martin and others questioned that finding, and a jury at a coroner's inquest later ruled that Martin died by “violence," prompting the FBI investigation.

Chris Crocker, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's St. Louis division, said an extensive investigation concluded "that this was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, not a homicide or a hate crime.” Relatives were informed of the finding in December, Crocker said.

Messages were left with Martin's mother, Ericka Lotts, and his grandmother, Kimberly Lotts. The Rev. Darryl Gray, a St. Louis racial injustice activist who has counseled the family, said relatives are still struggling with Martin's death.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org

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Martin was originally from the St. Louis area, but his family moved to Park Hills, a town of 8,500 residents about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of St. Louis, when he was a child. Though that area of Missouri is about 95% white, Martin was popular and happy, Ericka Lotts has said.

Martin was a star defensive tackle and earned a scholarship to a small out-of-state college. He graduated from high school in 2020 but needed to bring up his entrance exam score before he could go to college. Ericka Lotts had relocated back to the St. Louis area, and Martin was living with her.

On the night of April 24, 2021, Martin was back in the Park Hills area. He attended the prom party of a young woman, a friend of a friend, at a home near Fredericktown, 27 miles (43 kilometers) south of Park Hills.

The home was owned by a man who in Facebook postings mocked foreign accents and defended the Confederate flag. He posted a meme showing a hand flipping the finger. It read: “Here’s my apology for being white.” Because the man is not charged with a crime, The Associated Press is not naming him.

Deputies and EMTs were called to the home at 3:01 a.m. on April 25, 2021. They found Martin in the attic, dead. Madison County Sheriff Katie McCutcheon said an initial autopsy indicated Martin died of a self-inflicted gunshot. The Missouri State Highway Patrol was asked to investigate, and it concurred.

About 100 racial injustice activists marched in Fredericktown shortly after Martin's death. Gray said at the time that counter-protesters tossed two nooses at protesters and yelled racial slurs. That area of Missouri was home to Frank Ancona, a Missouri Ku Klux Klan leader shot to death by his wife in 2017.

A coroner’s inquest jury was convened in July 2021. The AP obtained audio of the testimony through an open records request. Zachary Graham testified that he saw Martin shoot himself.

Others said Martin had been acting paranoid and aloof. Martin had methamphetamine in his system — enough to cause paranoia and irrational thinking — according to a toxicology report cited by Dr. Russell Deidiker, who performed the autopsy.

But Phillip Lawler testified that the homeowner told him weeks after the shooting that he killed Martin. “He just told me he didn’t like Black people” and used a racial slur, Lawler testified.

The homeowner, at the inquest, denied ever saying anything like that. He testified that he was at the party and on the main floor of the home with others when the shot was heard, sending people scattering. Some of the young people, in testimony, backed up his account.

Crocker, in a phone interview with AP, said evidence showed that Martin had meth levels in his body "consistent with levels that often lead to extreme paranoia and sometimes even death.” He told others at the party he was worried that a gang member was after him, the investigation found. Someone gave him a gun for protection.

Martin shot himself “in the presence of a friend of his who was trying to talk him out of doing it," Crocker said.

Family members had said evidence didn’t match suicide, but Crocker said the wound was consistent with being self-inflicted.

FBI officials met with Martin's family in December to inform them of the findings. “We made sure to give them a whole understanding of the steps we took to reach this conclusion," Crocker said.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division provided two attorneys to help with the investigation, Crocker said. An FBI agent who specializes in hate crimes was assigned to the investigation.

“We really took extraordinary steps in this case to make sure we reached the right conclusion,” Crocker said.

FILE - Ericka Lotts holds a bouquet from the funeral of her son, Derontae Martin, Sept. 17, 2021, at her home in Ferguson, Mo. Martin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a rural Missouri home, not at the hands of the white homeowner who had a history of racist social media postings, an FBI official told The Associated Press on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jim Salter, File)

FILE - Ericka Lotts stands next to a poster of her son, Derontae Martin, from his high school football playing days, Sept. 17, 2021, at her home in Ferguson, Mo. Martin died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a rural Missouri home, not at the hands of the white homeowner who had a history of racist social media postings, an FBI official told The Associated Press on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jim Salter, File)