Juvenile charged in school blaze

By Brian Livingston

June 15, 2009 11:46 pm

— Admitting they were bored and looking for something to do, two juveniles said they and others are responsible for the Friday evening fire that heavily damaged the office area of Parkview Elementary School in Meridian, Meridian police said Monday.

"These two also implicated themselves in connection with burglaries and vandalisms at both Parkview and Magnolia Middle School," said Meridian Police Department Capt. James Sharpe who is the commander of the MPD's Investigative Division. "We are looking for several more juveniles ranging in ages nine to 14 years old."

The two youths charged with felony vandalism, burglary and arson are now being held in the Lauderdale County Juvenile Center. One of the suspects is 11 years old while the other is 13. They were taken into custody Saturday evening, roughly 24 hours after firefighters responded to the blaze.

Sharpe said it would be up to a judge to determine if the youths will be charged as adults.

At about 6:20 p.m. Friday, firefighters from the Meridian Fire Department were called to the elementary school located at 1225 26th Avenue. Upon arrival they found the principal's office and the outer office area of the school engulfed in flames and smoke. The flames were quickly knocked down and an arson investigation was launched.

"The fire investigation, although it hasn't determined what was used to start the fire, seems to indicate the fire started in the principal's office and then spread into the outer offices," Sharpe said. "We estimate there was about $50,000 worth of damage done."

"We found graffiti during our investigation but it was mostly insults targeting the principal and some of the teachers," said Sharpe, adding that it doesn’t appear the arson was gang related.

The suspects had either attended Parkview Elementary School or were currently enrolled there.