CALIFORNIA, USA — A man was shot and killed before a house fire Thursday near the South Oak Park neighborhood in Sacramento, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office.
“The cause of death looks like a gunshot wound, so looks like he was actually shot prior to this," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Amar Gandhi.
The investigation began when fire crews responded to a fire around 3:45 a.m. along Del Norte Boulevard and 26th Avenue. Neighbors say they were woken up by the fire crews.
"I was asleep in a utility pickup truck... was awakened by some loud noises and got up and that's when I observed there was a fire at the house," said Ronnie Patrick, who was staying nearby.
The family of the man identified him as Mike Plog.
"Michael had a great heart of gold," said Chuck Plog, brother of Mike Plog.
Capt. Justin Sylvia, a spokesperson for the Sacramento Fire Department, says crews found a man's body in the home and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Gandhi says Plog was found with a gunshot wound to the torso.
“This isn’t one of those run-of-the-mill type shootings where you have standard evidence collection. We’re presented with a whole new set of challenges, dealing with the fire, dealing with all the other obstructions that have occurred as a result of that fire and everything it may or may not have destroyed in the process," said Gandhi.
Meanwhile, Sylvia describes the scene as a "hoarder-style" house. He says multiple belongings were in front of the home which made it difficult for crews to access.
"This was very challenging. This is what we call hoarder-type conditions, making access very difficult. Crews had to move a lot of his belongings out of the way to actually make access and fight this fire," said Sylvia.
A man at the scene told ABC10 he was Plog's best friend.
“He’s a truck driver. He worked all the time. He was a good guy… my best friend," said Don.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is investigating the man's death, which the coroner's office says is suspicious.
"You name it, they're doing it right now. You're gonna see a lot of science behind this investigation," said Gandhi.
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