The herder, Tamdin Thar, who was thought to be in his early 60s, self-immolated in front of a police compound in Markethang, a county seat in the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to the group Free Tibet.
A few blocks down, on East Bay Avenue, a woman lounged in a white plastic chair in front of a walled, concrete compound that was open to the sky.
We stood in front of a cinder-block compound.
But in front of the compound's iron gates, a sprawling row of police vehicles hinted that authorities were taking the event a little more seriously.
Just inside the high wooden sill of the front gate of a large compound was a brick screen wall, a structure that was supposed to shut off intruding evil spirits as well as prevent curious passersby from looking inside.
In 1999, the quasi-religious sect Falun Gong was banned after it staged a 10,000-person sit-down strike in front of the compound housing the government's leadership in Beijing.
"I was standing at the front of the compound where the bar was located and suddenly a white pickup truck filled with empty chicken cages got closer to us," said Mohamed Hillan Athab, a 35-year-old police officer stationed at the headquarters.
The blast, Mr. Downie said, moved armored vehicles parked in front of the compound and sent body and vehicle parts flying 70 yards.
Construction always seemed to be under way in the street, with cement trucks and dirt movers pulling up in front of the compound.
Members of the Abu Risha family first caught the eye of American commanders in Anbar Province by attacking trucks carrying Qaeda militants passing on the highway in front of their compound in 2006.
