Overview
- The man, later identified as John Butch, 63, entered 315 Hudson Street and set himself alight in the building lobby at about 3 p.m. on Friday, and security staff and bystanders used fire extinguishers before FDNY and EMS took him to Weill Cornell Medical Center in stable condition.
- NYPD detectives established a crime scene, recovered a singed backpack and a collapsible baton from the scene, and say a lighter and an accelerant were involved in the ignition.
- Police arrested and charged Butch with arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment as the investigation continues to focus on cause and motive.
- Google and other tenants said the incident occurred in the shared lobby rather than inside Google offices, and officials are working closely with law enforcement while no political materials were found on the man.
- The building houses multiple tenants including Google and the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, and investigators are using CCTV and eyewitness accounts to reconstruct the sequence of events and assess any wider safety or security implications.