Arsonist strikes LISD campus

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

For the second time in recent months, the Lockhart Independent School District”s Discipline Management Center (DMC) campus was the site of a suspicious fire this weekend.
According to LISD Assistant Superintendent Phil McBride, a passerby notified authorities on Saturday night when they noticed a grass fire outside the

Community Education buildings, which are located in front of the DMC Campus on Pecos Street.
“They [the Lockhart Fire Department] got the fire out before any damage was done to the buildings,” McBride said.
After extinguishing the grass fire, firefighters noticed that windows had been broken out of the DMC”s portable buildings. They, along with police investigated the scene, where they found that gasoline or another accelerant had been poured around the building and over the wooden ramp leading to the door, McBride said.
According to McBride, the recent vandalism and arson attempts at the DMC Campus have prompted the district to allocate funds to build a 6-foot fence around the campus.
DMC principal Ed Sheppard said most of the damage had been cleaned up by Monday, and construction of the fence began on Tuesday morning.
A similar fire was set intentionally at the DMC in early-October. In both cases, according to LISD officials, the perpetrator used an accelerant of some kind and set fire to the ramps outside the DMC campus. In both cases, fire and smoke damage to the buildings were minimal.
Lockhart Fire Marshal Mark Baker has been in touch with the State Fire Marshal”s office in connection with the investigation. He said that samples from the fire scene were taken to the state, and results of laboratory testing are expected later this week.
The State Arson Hotline is offering a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the case. Anyone with information should call the hotline at 877-434-7345.