A 63-year-old man has been arrested and charged with arson after allegedly setting himself on fire inside the lobby of an office building housing Google in Lower Manhattan, New York.
The suspect, identified as John Butch of Brooklyn, allegedly used an accelerant and a lighter to set himself on fire at about 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, at 315 Hudson Street, near Vandam Street.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said Butch was arrested following the incident.
He was reportedly charged with arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
According to reports, surveillance footage showed Butch entering the building at about 2 p.m., leaving and returning about an hour later.
Investigators said that at about 2:58 p.m., he allegedly used a fluid stored in his backpack to set himself alight, causing both his body and the bag to become engulfed in flames.
The incident caused panic among people in the lobby, but building security guards reportedly used fire extinguishers to put out the fire before emergency responders arrived.
Butch survived the incident and was taken by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to the burn unit of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
He was reported to be in stable condition.
Police said no staff members or bystanders were injured in the incident.
During a search of Butch’s belongings, investigators reportedly recovered a collapsible tactical baton from his charred backpack.
Authorities have not established whether Google was the intended target of the incident.
The 10-storey building is a shared office facility, with Google occupying a major portion of the premises.
The building also houses the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the New York Society for the Deaf and several ground-floor retail outlets.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.
