SENATOBIA, Miss. (WMC) -The federal case against a Huntsville, Alabama, man accused of setting fire to the Senatobia Police Department has been transferred to Mississippi.
On Friday, a federal judge ordered the case against Garrick Rex Rawls transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, Action News 5’s sister station WAFF reports.
Rawls is charged with maliciously damaging or attempting to damage a building by fire or explosive in connection with the Oct. 31 fire.
According to an affidavit from an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, surveillance video shows a person breaking a window, entering the station’s lobby and pouring out what appeared to be gasoline. The person then ignited the liquid, causing an explosion, the affidavit says.
Federal investigators described the person as a masked intruder who used a hammer to break into the building. Court records allege the explosion knocked the person backward and injured his leg.
Investigators said evidence left at the scene included a burned boot, latex gloves, a hammer and a gas can nozzle. Authorities identified Rawls as a suspect with the help of community tips and surveillance footage, according to court records.
Rawls was arrested in Huntsville on Nov. 2 by Huntsville police, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and ATF agents.
The fire was reported early on Halloween morning. Senatobia firefighters said crews were dispatched at 4:38 a.m. and quickly extinguished the flames.
The fire came amid community tensions following the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. Court records said Rawls had participated in local protests and vigils following Wiley’s death, but investigators had not established a connection between the fire and the shooting.
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