A total of $9,000 in reward money is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the string of arson fires at six churches located in north St. Louis city and county.
Crimestoppers; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the St. Louis Fire Department; the Missouri Division of Fire Safety; and the St. Louis Police Officers Association have all pledged reward money.
The churches are of different denominations and were unoccupied at the time of the fires. Investigators said the fires originated at front exterior doors.
The first two fires took place in Jennings – on October 8 at Bethel Non-Denominational Church and on October 10 at New Northside Missionary Baptist Church. The next four fires took place in St. Louis – October 14 at St. Augustine Catholic Church; October 15 at New Testament Church of Christ; and at New Life Missionary Baptist Church and Ebenezer Lutheran Church on October 17.
“It’s within a three-mile radius that these things are occurring,” said Captain Garon Mosby, spokesman for the St. Louis Fire Department.
Rev. David Triggs, pastor at New Life Missionary Baptist Church, said detectives canvassed the neighborhood and he is confident they will find out who is setting the fires. Although his church has no video security, Triggs said, “There is a camera located on highway 70 that fits to the rear of the building,” and he is “hoping they caught someone walking or driving off.”
Mosby said that particular church sustained the most damage because of its wood frame and vinyl siding.
“I’m actually amazed,” Mosby said. “Had it gotten into that void just above the door, it would have ripped through the church very quickly.”
Triggs and his congregation held last week’s 11 a.m. Sunday service on the lawn and will do so again this week.
“We can’t hide in fear, and this is the doctrine we preach Sunday in and Sunday out,” Triggs told The American. “And when heat comes to us, we can’t back down. You can burn down the building but you can’t burn down the body.”
Triggs said the congregation is seeking an outdoor tent donation in case of inclement weather.
Rev. Rodrick K. Burton, pastor at New Northside Missionary Baptist Church in Jennings, invited the entire faith community to gather and pray and in solidarity during its weekly noonday prayer and Bible study service on Wednesday.
In attendance were a diverse group of faith leaders of many denominations, several area politicians, St. Louis city and county police officers, and the president of Saint Louis University.
Burton noted the historical significance of faith leaders coming together, undeterred.
“So often we hear, ‘St. Louis is divided,’” Burton said. “I am very grateful that, despite what happened in the negative at our door and other doors, that this could be an opportunity for the faith community to be intentional about bridging the divide that’s hampering this city and this region from coming together for hundreds of years.”
Several ministers offered prayers: for an end to the fires, for racial harmony, an end to apathy, forgiveness of the perpetrator, and a vision to turn prayers into action.
The Very Rev. Mike Kinman of Christ Church Cathedral said, “This person set fires, believing he would destroy, and instead he has ignited your fire inside us that cannot be quenched and cannot be contained. And as much as he believed his fire would destroy, this fire will create bonds among us.”
Additionally, Christ Church Cathedral’s Rebuild the Churches Fund is going to assist in addressing the damages to the churches. The fund is an interfaith collaboration raised more than $700,000 for black churches torched after the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
While investigators are not commenting on what may be behind the string of arsons, an ACLU leader put them into historical context.
Jeffrey A. Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, stated, “Those who commit this violence seek to instill fear. This is why arson against predominantly black churches has been a frequent tool of white supremacy.”
Burton does not agree that race is a factor.
“There’s been no evidence that this has been racial. I’ve been to every single location, and I don’t believe that someone coming outside our community would have the type of knowledge to go as deep in where these different places were.”
All of the fires are under investigation by the St. Louis Fire Department investigative unit, the ATF and the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Unit, which is made of both city and county bomb and arson detectives. County police are patrolling churches during night hours and City firefighters began canvassing neighborhoods handing out handbills Wednesday afternoon, seeking information on the fires.
Mosby asked for the public’s assistance.
“The individual or individuals involved are going to make a mistake,” Mosby said. “Someone is going to be walking along and see something. Know what’s in your neighborhood, and keep an eye out. If you see something out of place, call us.”
A seventh church fire was set early this morning in St. Louis – at the Shrine of St. Joseph, located at 1220 N. 11th Street near downtown St. Louis. The doors to the rectory were set fire. In the previous arsons, fires were set at the front doors of the church. None of the churches has video surveillance cameras. However, unlike the first six, St. Joseph is attended by predominantly white parishioners and is located outside the three-mile radius of the church fires, which began October 8.
Anyone with information on the church fires is urged to call Crimestoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477), the Arson hotline at 1-800-39-ARSON, or submit your tip online at http://bit.ly/1jQYLkB.
