BLM activist takes own life outside Ohio Statehouse

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Authorities say a man has killed himself on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse.

State Highway Patrol officials tell the Columbus Dispatch that the man shot himself outside the front door of the Statehouse on Monday evening.

Lt. Craig Cvetan says the 23-year-old man from the Columbus suburb of Franklin Township died at the scene. He says the man was not a state employee.

The Columbus Dispatch identifies the man as MarShawn McCarrel. Other media outlets are reporting McCarrel was a Black Lives Matter activist.

Cvetan says it's unclear why the man killed himself.

Authorities say nobody saw the shooting, but the man was seen on Statehouse grounds just before the gunshot.