Scene of fire at Sgt. Bank's Dryden home
ITHACA -- Ithaca is nationally known as a generally liberal college town. Long time residents talk about how you're more likely to hear talk of bicycles and Birkenstocks than crime and safety concerns. On Monday, a weekend fire at a police officer's house was labeled as arson. Now, many people say the fire is connected to an underlying tension in the city - and hope it isn't retaliation.
Police say Sgt. Bryan Bangs was home when the fire started Saturday morning, but a neighbor helped him escape. Bangs shot Shawn Greenwood in February when police say Greenwood tried to ram them with a car. On July 1st, a grand jury cleared Sgt. Bangs in that shooting, and now people are wondering if the fire is retaliation.
"I don't think any of us want a society of the wild west," said Marc W. as he discussed the incident with friends on the Ithaca Commons Monday night. He didn't want to give his last name.
Marc W. isn't sure what happened on the February night when Shawn Greenwood was killed and he has questions about the sequence of events. He's skeptical of the police response and wonders if the arson investigation will be more open.
"It will be interesting to see how much information is released in this investigation versus that investigation," said Marc W.
Several people on the Commons were concerned about the inciden,t but would not speak on camera for fear of retaliation. Many of them said they understood why people are upset about racial and police issues in Ithaca, but also felt the arson news was frightening.
"It's very sad that someone would follow through with that," said one man who said his name was Michael.
Police have not said there is a definite connection between the fire and February's shooting. Many of the people discussing it on the Commons also hoped that retaliation wasn't a motive.
"As the philosophical saying goes, an eye for an eye - we'd all be blind," said Marc W.
