Man sets off bombs in home before suicide

SALEM ? Police said a Salem man set off homemade bombs at his home Saturday morning hours before officers found the man dead of what appeared to be self-inflicted wounds.Police responded at 7:38 a.m. Saturday to a report of an unknown explosion on Meadow Street and found a man had barricaded himself inside his apartment and was lighting off improvised explosive devices.A SWAT team and state police bomb squad were called and neighboring homes were evacuated, as Mayor Kim Driscoll urged motorists to stay away from the neighborhood off of Canal Street.Police entered the home to loud explosions, which Driscoll said was “nerve wracking, but safe.”Salem Police Lt. Conrad Prosniewski said the 45-year-old man, whose name was withheld pending notification of his family, was alone in the residence and did not exchange gunfire or communicate with officers before they found him dead. They did not say what his motive might have been.