A 70-year-old military veteran lost his life Wednesday when he blew himself up with a bomb in the Midway community.

The man reportedly left a suicide note saying he was going to take his own life and he also said there was another bomb in the area. The threat of another bomb prompted a heavy law enforcement response around the man’s property on Kermet Turner Road.

“I’m sure the whole community is wondering why we were out there,” said Sheriff Tommy Myers. “We were expecting another bomb to be nearby and we found another bomb. The TBI brought in its Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and the ATF brought its mechanical robot dog to the scene.”

The Standard rarely covers suicides, but made the decision to do so in this case because of the volume of officers Wednesday in the Midway area and the threat posed to the community of another bomb. The second bomb was found about 20 feet from the spot where the man took his life.

The Standard is not identifying the victim. Sheriff Myers said he had not lived here very long, recently relocating from Georgia.