NORTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Bristol County District Attorney's Office has identified the Norton man who died after an apparent meth lab exploded over the weekend.
38-year-old Edward Rooney, who lived at the apartment where the incident occurred on Faith Way, died at a hospital in Attleboro shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday.
Norton Police and Fire Departments had responded to Rooney's apartment around 1 a.m. for reports of an explosion.
When they arrived, they discovered the resident had fled, and that the explosion had been caused by a meth lab inside.
A short time after the explosion, Attleboro Police and Fire responded to calls from a residence on Pike Avenue, which is almost five miles from Faith Way.
Residents of that home said they were awoken in the middle of the night by a man "screaming for help outside." They said they let him inside the mudroom of their home where he collapsed moments later. First responders rushed him to Sturdy Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:38 a.m.
Several other people were evacuated from Rooney's apartment building to a nearby community center.
Bristol County DA said the medical examiner will conduct an autopsy and the investigation is ongoing.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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