TRIPwire, 28 April 2020

On 22 April 2020 at approximately 2323 hours local time, officers from the Martinsburg Police Department responded to a report of a potential home invasion at an apartment. Officers observed a large hole in the window next to the apartment’s door and an improvised incendiary device (IID) consisting of a plastic cup with burnt red cloth in it. Police determined the cloth was a t-shirt soaked in an accelerant. The apartment’s resident identified a 53-year-old male suspect. When police went to the suspect’s residence, he gave permission to search his home, where officers found evidence that indicated the suspect’s likely involvement in constructing the IID. The suspect was arrested and has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, use of an incendiary device, and violation of a protective order.