RCMP seek public's help in identifying suspect behind blaze at former Moncton shelter

Surveillance photos have captured an individual starting a fire inside the old House of Nazareth building in Moncton, police say.

Codiac RMCP are investigating after a series of consecutive fires damaged the former emergency shelter on Clark Street earlier this week. The building has been unoccupied.

Police released images purportedly showing a suspect starting a blaze in the building Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene around 1:50 p.m.

The suspect is described as standing between five-foot-nine and six feet tall with a skinny build. The individual was wearing a black baseball hat, black jacket, grey hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and boots.

RCMP
RCMP

The suspect was carrying a black duffel bag and a backpack.

The building initially caught fire in the washroom on Monday, then again on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the fire was rekindled around 7:30 a.m. between the ground floor and second floor of the house.

House of Nazareth opened its new homeless shelter on Albert Street last week and no one was living or working in the Clark Street building.

RCMP
RCMP

Plans to turn the old shelter into transitional housing are now in doubt.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is asked to contact Codiac RCMP at 506-857-2400 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.crimenb.ca.

The RCMP are investigating alongside the New Brunswick Fire Marshal's Office.