MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - Berkeley County’s sheriff says a man who was a junior at Macedonia High School has been charged in the burning of the school 23 years after the night it burned down.
Daniel Scott Harris, 40, is charged with second-degree arson and second-degree burglary, Sheriff Duane Lewis said. Harris was arrested Tuesday night.
Macedonia High School burned to the ground on Aug. 4, 1996. Investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division ruled the fire arson. Lewis said Harris was 17 years old at the time of the fire.
Sheriff Duane Lewis announced the arrest at a Wednesday afternoon news conference in Moncks Corner.
Lewis said the arrest came after the discovery of a piece of evidence investigators weren’t initially aware they had. The fingerprint, he said, was in “a unique place that would have indicated involvement in this crime.”
An affidavit states the fingerprint was located on a fire extinguisher that was used in the school’s library and media center to damage electronic equipment before the fire was set.
Lewis said he asked his team to reopen the case two years ago and that investigators had been working on the case since. Lewis made the announcement of Harris’s arrest while accompanied by former teachers and students at the school.
The sheriff said he believes the incident began as a vandalism but then led to some materials inside the school being set on fire.
Lewis said his agency worked with SLED in the investigation. But he said others may still be involved.
“But we believe based on the evidence that the scene, there’s additional suspects out there that are still on the loose,” Lewis said. “If you know something about this individual, if you know something about who his friends were at the time, and who he was hanging around with or if you’ve heard that they were at the school that at the time with a fire, please call us.”
Lewis said a judge set a $20,000 personal recognizance bond for Harris, who was expected to be released later Wednesday.
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