We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Inspector in Philadelphia Building Collapse Commits Suicide

Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo

(AP) — Philadelphia officials have identified an inspector who fatally shot himself a week after a building collapse that killed six people as a dedicated 16-year veteran of the Department of Licenses and Inspections.

Deputy Mayor Everett Gillison says 52-year-old inspector Ronald Wagenhoffer was found dead in his truck Wednesday night with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

City officials say he was the Department of Licenses and Inspections employee who conducted a May 14 inspection of the building, weeks before the June 5 collapse.

Gillison says the department is in mourning and Wagenhoffer “did nothing wrong.” Wagenhofferleaves behind a wife and son.

The downtown building was being demolished when it collapsed onto a neighboring Salvation Army Thrift Store, killing two employees and four customers. Police allege a heavy equipment operator had been high on marijuana.

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File