Possible arson fire at Islamic center

Authorities are investigating a possible arson fire that significantly damaged an Islamic center in Missouri on the first day of fasting in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Police said they were pursuing leads about the fire Friday at the Islamic Center of Cape Girardeau.

Shortly before the fire began about 5 a.m., a man was captured on a security camera engaging in “suspicious activity,” according to Norman Baker, a Cape Girardeau Fire Department battalion chief.

He said the fire had been deemed “suspicious in nature” and was being investigated with help from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the state fire marshal.

No one was injured in the fire, which appeared to have started in the entrance to the center, which occupies the first floor of a 2½story building, Baker said. Investigators have not yet determined how the fire started, said John Ham, an ATF spokesman.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department said it was asking anyone who might have driven by the center before 5 a.m. to call detectives and report “anything they may have witnessed.”

“There was a person on the video, but we do not know who that person is,” said Shafiq Malik, who works at the center. “We are just hoping it’s something else other than hate. But you never know, in this time, what’s going on.”

In 2009, another man was convicted of hate crimes and sentenced to three years in prison after he threw rocks at the center, breaking several windows, according to the Southeastern Missourian.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called the fire “a cowardly act.”