A 52-year-old man died late Saturday night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, an official from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office said.

The man, a resident of the McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove St., died around midnight, said Christopher Hart, the interim executive director at the YMCA. The man died on the steps to the building’s side entrance on Maple Avenue.

Hart said the man left behind what appeared to be a suicide note.

“The initial indications that I have is that this gentleman tragically took his life,” Hart said. “That was the indication that I had received both by the police that were on site and by our building residence manager.”

Hart said he was waiting for a report from Evanston Police Department to confirm the suicide. Police officials said Sunday that an “incident” occurred at the YMCA Saturday night, but would not comment on it.

The man had lived in the YMCA’s residence program for about five years, Hart said. About 170 people live in the program at a given time.

“Those residents that are living at the YMCA have the freedom of lifestyle that everyone else has outside,” Hart said.

A number of Northwestern students passing by the scene early Sunday morning thought the shooting was a homicide. Attendees of a Boomshaka performance noticed the body and police tape upon leaving the show, which ended across the street at about 1 a.m.

“I had no idea what the situation was,” said Rakesh Baruah, a Weinberg sophomore. “I just saw somebody lying there and obviously I assumed the worst.”

Baruah said the block was roped off when he left the show at intermission around 12:20 a.m.

Josh Limor, a Communication sophomore, said people were confused about what had happened.

“On the stairs, we saw a white sheet covering something and it looked like the shape of a body,” Limor said. “We had no idea what was going on. It just made a weird feeling throughout the crowd.”