A 42-year-old man who went missing while delivering pizzas in Apple Valley last week died by suicide Tuesday just as police located him.
Officers in St. Paul were called to a residence on the 1100 block of Rice Street just after noon Tuesday for a report of a person having a mental health crisis, Nikki Muehlhausen, a department spokeswoman, said.
Muehlhausen said the caller was a relative of Xiong, who said he suffered from schizophrenia and was threatening his own life and had access to guns.
After police arrived and Xiong’s relatives exited the building safely, Xiong ran out of the home, turned a corner and fatally shot himself, Muehlhausen said.
Apple Valley police and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension first publicized Xiong’s disappearance Thursday. Neither agency described the circumstances as suspicious. In follow-up statements, Apple Valley police said he may be suffering from a mental health crisis and was known to carry a gun.
Police said they believed he had been seen in Golden Valley, Richfield and Roseville in the days after he disappeared. His car was found in Superior, Wis., Jan. 18.
