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Man Arrested in Connection With St. Louis Church Fires

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In this Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015 photo, an outdoor service is held following a fire at the New Life Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis. Someone has been setting fire to predominantly black churches in the St. Louis area, and investigators are trying to determine if the arsonist is targeting either religion or race. (J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) EDWARDSVILLE INTELLIGENCER OUT; THE ALTON TELEGRAPH OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
An outdoor service is held following a fire at the New Life Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis on Oct. 18, 2015.J.B. Forbes—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP
By Elisha Fieldstadt/NBC News

A 35-year-old man has been charged with two of seven fires set in the span of two weeks in St. Louis, authorities said Friday.

David Lopez Jackson was arrested Thursday and is facing two counts of second-degree arson, said St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson.

Jackson has been linked to fires set on Oct. 17 at New Life Missionary Baptist Church and Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Dotson said.

Forensic evidence linked the gas used as an accelerant in one of the fires to Jackson, and his car was spotted in surveillance footage at one of the churches on the day of the…

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