Following a blaze Sunday that destroyed portions of the former Lebanon Catholic building in Lebanon, a police investigation into the arson is following up on leads that emerged in the aftermath via social media.
Read More: Overnight fire damages former Lebanon Catholic building; vandalism suspected
The video, embedded below, shows two juveniles in front of a fire in what appears to be the former Lebanon Catholic gymnasium. A third individual filming the video is not visible in the footage, which was shared via several sources to LebTown as well as via public social media postings.
“Police have identified several suspects and have determined they are juveniles, utilizing personal interviews and video released via social media outlets showing a fire being set within the building,” Lebanon city police said in a news release Tuesday.
The department said that the investigation is being jointly conducted with the Pennsylvania State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
It’s not yet clear whether the video footage dates to the evening that the conflagration took place. There have been multiple cases of vandalism and apparent arson since the building became unoccupied in 2020.
“There’s been numerous fires here and this is the one that took hold,” said Trautman in an interview with LebTown on Sunday.
Police said that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Lebanon city police at (717) 272-2054 or CrimeStoppers at (717) 207-9800
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