Caught on camera: Shoreline home targeted by arsonist
“It’s a hard thing to believe someone wants you dead. What have I done so bad I deserved to burn to death?” asked April Brown, a Shoreline resident whose home was targeted by an arsonist last Friday morning.
The 72-year-old Brown says she was alone and fast asleep when a guy in a hoodie casually walked around her home spraying an accelerant of some kind, then after dousing a doorway, lit it on fire and ran off into the dark.
“He sprayed my bedroom window – my TV was on, so he knew somebody was in there,” said Brown.
Brown says, incredibly, instead of spreading, the fire smoldered for more than an hour before smoke detectors went off and woke her up.
“I get in there and my whole door frame was inflamed, and the smoke was coming in and so I freaked out,” said Brown.
She says she grabbed a hose and fire crews quickly arrived after neighbors called 911.
“I feel very loved by that. I didn’t know my neighbors cared that much about me. I mean, we talk here but they would be suffering today if I had been killed on Friday. It would have hurt so many people. He needs to be caught,” said Brown.
Brown was treated for mild smoke inhalation.
She says she has no idea who the arsonist is.
Police say the video is a big help for their investigation.
“Watch that video, share the tips – someone seeing that video will know just that piece of information our detectives need to get this over the goal line,” said Shoreline Police Captain Tim Meyer.
