MILWAUKEE (WBAY) — A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) student faces several charges after police said he started two fires on campus over Christmas break.
Although no injuries were reported, the fires caused nearly $500,000 in damage. One of the buildings contained numerous explosive materials and “created a severe risk to the health and bodily security of both the people inside the building working and the first responders,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by WBAY.
Zhexuan Zhou, 20, has been charged with multiple counts of arson, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, and criminal damage to property after police say he purposefully set fires to the EMS (Engineering, Math and Sciences) Building Jan. 5, and the physics building on Dec. 22.
A UWM employee says the Dec. 22 fire began in a trash can, according to the criminal complaint.
It is believed that the Jan. 5 fire also began with burning paper in a garbage can. Zhou then placed the burning garbage can in a cabinet attached to the wall in the room, and closed the cabinet door with the fire going inside. The cabinet itself eventually caught fire, causing fire damage to the walls and the ceiling, according to the complaint.
When police arrived on the scene, an officer says she observed heavy white smoke in the first-floor hallway and immediately pulled the fire alarm. The smoke appeared to be coming from a classroom which was closed and locked.
Investigators believe the conditions were “extraordinarily likely to create a backdraft event due to the influx of oxygenated air when the door was opened. A backdraft event would have cause a wall of fire to shoot out at the person or persons who opened the door to [the] room,” the complaint states.
Zhou was identified from surveillance video.
Police are continuing to investigate Zhou’s motive.