BOSTON (AP) -- A man who was bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds when firefighters pulled him from a burning apartment in the city's Roxbury section has confessed to setting the fire, authorities said.
The man's grandfather, who was also found in the apartment, later died at Boston Medical Center. When firefighters arrived at the building on Monday morning, the older man was unconscious and appeared to have been beaten, strangled and possibly shot, fire officials said.
The younger man, who had been shot several times in the legs, allegedly told investigators he set the fire in order to summon help because he couldn't get to a telephone.
''It appears the fire was intentionally set to get attention,'' Deputy Fire Chief Robert Dunderdale said.
Police have declined to identify the victims.
The grandson was treated at Boston Medical Center for gunshot wounds and smoke inhalation, Dunderdale said. His condition was not immediately available on Tuesday.
Police Sgt. Thomas Sexton said the case was being investigated by homicide detectives, and that an autopsy was planned to determine how the older man had died.
The fire occurred on the sixth floor of the apartment building in the Whittier Street Housing Development, a few blocks from police headquarters.
Firefighters were initially unable to get into the apartment because the door had been barricaded by an appliance, Dunderdale said. A firefighter climbed a ladder and entered through a window.
