BREWER – A gunshot that city employees and visitors heard Thursday afternoon at City Hall apparently was from a firearm a local man used to kill himself in the main-floor restroom.

Police did not release the name of the Brewer resident pending notification of family. He was not a city employee, police said.

A videographer for WVII-TV 7 was speaking with a city employee about 3 p.m. Thursday when they heard a loud sound.

“We were looking at a map and heard a bang – a kind of snap,” said Dave Simpson, chief photographer for the TV station. “It was an odd sort of noise.

“We thought something had fallen off the wall. I decided to look in the bathroom and found him,” he said. He said the body was slumped against the restroom wall. A pair of false teeth was on the floor.

City Hall is a two-story building, and the incident occurred in a men’s restroom on the main floor.

City Manager Steve Bost said the man left a pile of paperwork including a suicide note in the bathroom. Bost said the man lived alone and apparently went to City Hall so someone would find him after he shot himself.

The note indicated the man shot himself because he was out of food and fuel, according to Bost.

The man apparently did not speak with any city employees before entering the restroom.

Bost said if city employees had known of the man’s plight, they would have helped him.

As part of their investigation, Brewer police officers went to his neighborhood to speak with neighbors. No more information was available Thursday evening.

“It’s tragic,” Police Chief Perry Antone said.

City Hall closed for the rest of the day. Bost said a couple of employees who were shaken up by the suicide would not be returning to work Friday.

He said the police chaplain had talked to some employees at City Hall on Thursday and would be available for grief counseling Friday if needed.