PRESS RELEASE

To: NEWSROOM

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Assistant To The Fire Chief

October 24 - Three Evangel Christian Academy Students Arrested in Connection with Ridgewood Middle School Fire

Three Evangel Christian Academy students were arrest late this afternoon in connection for the Sunday afternoon fire at a Ridgewood Middle School . . .

Shreveport Fire Investigators took all three males into custody at the private school following classes today. The three, Cameron Ratley, 18, Jeremy Haws, 17, and Jeff Prejean, 17, will be charged as adults and were booked into city jail on simple arson charges.

According to fire investigators, the three planned to start the fire at the school in advance and spend the late hours of Saturday night and then early Sunday morning in the parking lot of a public library adjacent to the school. Fire officials believe that Ratley is the one who actually placed what investigators are describing as a “flare” inside of the classroom room window of the Baird Road school between 3 and 4 a.m. The flare smoldered some time before catching some combustible papers in a corner of the room and under the ledge of the window on fire. The fire caused significant smoke and heat damage to the room before firefighters fully extinguished it around noon on Sunday.

Fire officials are crediting good investigative work by their arson division for the quick arrests. The lead investigator on the case was Chris Robinson. The simple arson charge is a felony in Louisiana and carries a maximum of 15 years in jail and $15,000 fine. Prejean is a south Louisiana evacuee from Chalmette attending the Christian school.