A man is recovering in a Dallas hospital after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a government building in Kemp.
A fire broke out Sunday night at Precinct 4 Kaufman County Sub Courthouse. A witness reportedly observed a man break a window in the building and then throw a homemade incendiary device into the Justice of the Peace’s office, starting a fire.
According to the Kaufman County Fire Marshal, the building sustained no significant damage thanks to a bystander, who saw the situation unfold, quickly called 911, and then attempted to contain the fire before the Kemp Fire Department arrived.
The suspect was identified and received medical treatment at an undisclosed Dallas hospital. Kaufman County is working to repair the building from the damage and said it would continue services as Kaufman County fire marshals investigate the incident.
A message on the Kaufman County website announced that the courthouse would remain closed until at least Friday “due to emergency building repairs” as a result of the event. In the meantime, area residents with business in the building were asked to visit one of the other two substitute courthouse locations or go to the tax office on the first floor of the Kaufman County Courthouse Annex, located at 100 N. Washington Street.
The Kaufman Police Department has not yet announced charges or publicly identified the suspect, but the witness account suggests that the suspect intentionally set the fire.
Arson is a serious crime under the Texas Penal Code, typically pursued as a second or third-degree felony. It can carry up to two decades in prison and fines of up to $10,000.
The incident was not the first time a North Texas courthouse was targeted by arson in recent years. A courthouse in Tarrant County was burned in a similar manner in June 2020.
In the nearby city of Dallas, crime continues to be a problem that City Council has been unable to address. In the first four months of the year, murders increased by 13.8% over the previous year, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
The crime problem has been exacerbated by a shortage of police officers, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia told the news outlet that the department is short by “hundreds” of officers.
The shortage is felt particularly in the downtown area of Dallas, which has a much higher crime rate than the downtown area of neighboring Fort Worth, which has police and security units dedicated to patrolling the city center.
