MADISON – Federal law enforcement agencies are getting involved in the search for the suspect or suspects who set fire to the office of a Madison-area anti-abortion group on Sunday morning.
Police Chief Shon Barnes says someone was driving past the building when they noticed the fire and called 9-1-1.
“Our responding officers observed smoke coming from inside the building and a ground-level window which had been breached,” Chief Barnes said during a press conference on Monday.
“Fire investigators located an incendiary device, sometimes referred to as a Molotov Cocktail, inside the office. We’re still working to determine what type of accelerant was used in this device,” Chief Barnes said.
Chief Barnes says multiple pieces of evidence have been collected and sent to “federal partners for processing.”
“As much as we wish we could be able to solve this case today, the forensic process must take time and we must now wait for those results,” Chief Barnes said.
As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been made.
Moving forward, police will be monitoring other locations in the city closely.
“One of the things we did immediately following this particular incident was to make our officers aware,” Chief Barnes said.
“We are aware of any organization within our city on either side of this particular issue and we do what’s called ‘keep check-byes’ or surveillance as much as we can for any of these particular areas. Because the idea is to prevent the next one if that is indeed the case.”
