U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
A Philadelphia man is accused of lying to a federal agent in connection with a blaze that killed a firefighter on June 18. The suspect, identified as Al-Ashraf Khalil in a criminal complaint obtained by The Daily Beast, owns the building in which the fire started, and was seen nearby acting suspiciously in the moments immediately before the structure went up in flames, according to the complaint. He later told ATF agents that he was at home during the blaze. However, the feds say, Khalil was caught in surveillance video on the scene. Khalil, who has not been charged with the alleged arson itself, does not yet have a lawyer listed in court records and was unable to be reached for comment. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is set to hold a news conference about the case at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
