Two Ala. Church Arson Suspects Arrested, Third Sought

Two men have been arrested in connection with a series of church arsons that leveled or damaged nine Baptist churches across rural Alabama in February, and a third person is also wanted, the Associated Press reports via Yahoo News.

The federal law enforcement official who provided the AP with the information asked to remain anonymous until a formal announcement takes place, according to the AP.

That official told the AP that two men are being charged with conspiracy and individual counts of arson related to the burnings of five Bibb County churches and four more in Western Alabama, all of which were Baptist.

The churches that burned in Bibb Country were set ablaze on Feb. 3, and the others were damaged or destroyed four days later, the AP reports.

There is currently no known motive behind the arsons, and race has more or less been ruled out because close to half of the burned churches had mostly white congregations and the rest had mostly black, the AP reports.

Due to a lack of suspects, the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently stepped in, making the case one of its top priorities and sending waves of federal agents to assist local and state law enforcement, according to the AP.

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