KENNER – Police have identified two teenage suspects they say lit the fire that ripped through old Kenner High School.
Seventeen-year-old Ryder Chriss and a 16-year-old juvenile were with three other teens inside the abandoned building around 12:30 a.m. on February 19, according to the Kenner Police Department.
The group found a sofa in a second floor hallway, and Chriss piled papers he found on the floor onto the sofa.
The papers were lit with a lighter, and the juvenile tossed more paper onto the spreading fire.
The fire grew out of control and eventually gutted the historic building.
Investigators with the KPD and the State Fire Marshal identified Chriss and the juvenile as suspects in the arson investigation, and Chriss accompanied his lawyer to turn himself in on April 24.
The juvenile suspect is expected to do the same.
Both teens face charges of simple arson.
Kenner Police Chief Michael J. Glaser encourages anyone who may have any additional information relating to this arson fire, to contact Kenner Police Detective Mike Jackson at (504) 712-2283.