The man who decapitated himself with a pipe bomb outside a middle school a mile from Northwestern’s campus last month intended to kill himself, police said Thursday.
Police found a suicide note on the computer of the 21-year-old dead man, Colin Dalebroux,, Evanston police Cmdr. James Pickett said. Dalebroux had attempted suicide twice in the past and had been institutionalized in Madison, Wis.
Websites describing how to make a pipe bomb appeared in Dalebroux’s search history, Pickett said.
Residents of the area around Nichols Middle School, 800 Greenleaf St. in Evanston, reported hearing an explosion around 4 a.m. on Sept. 13. A neighbor found Dalebroux’s body two hours later while walking his dog and called police, who also found an unexploded bomb which the Cook County sheriff’s bomb squad disabled.
Police evacuated residents of the homes immediately surrounding Fitzsimmons Park, where the body was found, and told other nearby residents to stay in their homes. The residents were allowed to return after several hours, but the school remained closed for the next two days.
Police will probably not investigate further, Pickett said.
