One of two elderly men hospitalized after a Monday altercation at the Gino J. Merli Veterans' Center in Scranton died this morning, Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland confirmed.

Leonard Fiume, 95, a resident of the center, died at about 4 a.m. at Allied Services' inpatient hospice unit. The cause of death is pending an autopsy, Rowland said.

Scranton police are investigating the death and the Monday altercation at the veterans' center, which happened about 1:20 p.m. and involved Fiume and a 78-year-old male resident.

Fiume was treated at Geisinger Community Medical Center and released after the incident, a hospital spokesman said Wednesday. The 78-year-old man, who police declined to identify, also was treated at a local hospital and released.

The Merli center referred questions to the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which operates the nursing home for veterans at Mulberry Street and Penn Avenue.

Department spokeswoman Joan Nissley said the department is cooperating with the police investigation, but provided no additional information.

This article is written by Jeff Horvath from The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.