After one year, arson case unsolved

On a weekend a year ago this month, someone calmly walked up to an entrance door at the Oconee DSS office and set the door afire. The police know this from video surveillance of the scene around 5 am on a Sunday. The Walhalla police released still photographs of the arsonist in the hope someone could identify him. That didn’t happen. And a year later Chief Sean Brinson says the crime against the state government agency remains an open investigation. The arsonist is believed to have used an accelerant in mason jars to set the fire and may have been motivated by a decision by the child welfare agency that went against him or her. After setting fire to the employee entrance door, the video showed the arsonist scampering toward Earle Street to nearby highway 28.