MOYOCK – Deputies have released the name of a man who they say set his pickup truck on fire and then drove it into a Moyock law firm.
Currituck County Sheriff Susan Johnson says they are still trying to determine a motive for Friday afternoon’s fire at the Twiford Law Firm.
Johnson says 56-year-old Alan Lanier of Amelia Court House, Virginia was driving the pickup truck. He died in the fire.
The owner of the law firm, Edward O’Neal, says Lanier got out of his truck in the parking lot and set bales of hay on fire in the bed. O’Neal says the man then got back in the truck and drove it into the building.
The ATF and SBI are being brought in to help investigate the case.
Johnson says they found an explosive device in the truck that did not detonate. In the truck they discovered several propane tanks, 30 gallons of gas in the bed, and ten gallons inside the truck.
A check of North Carolina court records show Lanier had no prior or pending charges in the state.
Courtesy WITN.com