SENATOBIA, Miss. — A man set fire to the Senatobia Police Department on Halloween after breaking into the building and spreading flammable liquid through its lobby, according to a federal criminal complaint obtained by WMC Action News 5.
Garrick Rex Rawls is charged with maliciously damaging or attempting to damage property by fire or explosive. The criminal complaint was sworn Nov. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
| WEBINAR: Rethinking public order policing: Crowd science, dialogue policing and the law
In the affidavit, ATF Special Agent Joshua Garrett described surveillance video showing a person in dark clothing, a hood and a mask approaching the station early Oct. 31. The person broke a front window with what appeared to be a hammer, entered the lobby and emptied liquid from a container.
The person then climbed back through the broken window and ignited the liquid, Garrett wrote. The resulting explosion threw the person into the roadway and set parts of their body on fire. The person tried to extinguish the flames before retrieving a burning backpack and fleeing.
Senatobia police and firefighters responded to the fire around 4:35 a.m. Investigators recovered a partially burned boot, two latex gloves, a mostly burned hammer and a gas can nozzle near the station, according to the affidavit.
Police Chief Lamorris Hampton told Garrett the incident shut down the department for an extended period during the investigation because of staffing demands and management of the scene.
Garrett wrote that several people directed investigators to Rawls after hearing a description of the suspect. Investigators also reviewed surveillance video from a Batesville hotel where Rawls was listed as a guest, along with license plate reader records showing a silver Jeep entering and leaving Senatobia around the time of the fire.
Cellphone location information provided by T-Mobile led investigators to the Huntsville area. On Nov. 2, ATF agents conducting surveillance saw Rawls leaving a residence in Alabama with a large white bandage on his right leg and a noticeable limp. He was not wearing shoes or socks, Garrett wrote.
ATF agents, Huntsville police and Mississippi Bureau of Investigation personnel arrested Rawls that day, WMC reported.
.@ATFNewOrleans arrested a suspect in Huntsville, AL wanted in connection with the arson fire at the Senatobia Police Department station. ATF Special Agents were assisted by @HSVPolice Huntsville Police Department and @MissDPS Mississippi Bureau of Investigations. The… pic.twitter.com/nUbpD6iUz0
— ATF New Orleans (@ATFNewOrleans) November 2, 2026
The fire followed community protests over a June officer-involved shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Senatobia Walmart. The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office concluded in October that the officer’s use of force was justified and declined prosecution. Wiley’s family and community advocates challenged that conclusion and continued calling for accountability.
Garrett’s affidavit describes Rawls’ participation in protests and vigils following Wiley’s death, including a vigil the evening before the fire. The affidavit does not identify a motive for the alleged arson or establish that it was retaliation for the shooting.
The case remains under investigation.
