HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) - A suspect in a rural Huntington County fire, has died in a shootout with police.

Police wanted to talk to 34-year-old Barton Thompson about being spotted at the scene of three fires Sunday afternoon on property owned by his family in Mount Etna.

State troopers then sat at Thompson's father's house, nearby, in case he showed up there.

A state police spokesman says when the troopers heard gunfire, they returned fire, and called for backup from three other departments.

According to the Huntington County coroner, Thompson was shot multiple times.

And it's not clear whether the fatal wound was fired by officers or Thompson himself.

But the coroner says there are so many shell casings at the scene, it will take most of the day to figure out what happened.

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