Police say they’ve executed two search warrants and have a “possible suspect” in connection to an Alamo Square dog walker who’d received racist threats prior to his house burning, though it’s unclear whether these leads are concerning the threats, the house fire, or both.

It was in early May when Mission Local reported that well-known Alamo Square dog-walker Terry Williams, who is Black, had received racist threats left at his home, which included a voodoo doll with racist caricatures, and a slew of antiquated racist terms written on it. A week later, another package arrived at Williams's building, which he shares with his parents, that said, among other things, “We will continute [sic] to exterminate you n— slaves!” And it sure seemed suspicious when a fire broke out at Williams's house on May 21, sending both of his parents to the hospital, and obviously raising the issue of whether the threats and the fire were connected.    

So the district’s supervisor Dean Preston convened a community meeting Thursday night on the topic, held at Redemption Church on McAllister Street, with SFPD and fire department officials on hand. The Chronicle reports that the SFPD said they had a “possible suspect” in the case, and had executed two search warrants.

That said, it’s unclear whether this is a suspect for the hate crimes, a possible arson, or both.

“My hope is we will make an arrest,” SFPD lieutenant Bassey Obot said at Thursday’s meeting. Obot is with the department arson and hate crime investigation unit.

Fire department officials said they don’t yet know if the house fire was a case of arson, and were still investigating. But Terry Williams himself expressed gratitude to the fire department.

“Thank you for saving my mom and dad,” Williams told fire officials at the meeting. “They probably wouldn’t be here. I know how close [my mom] was to dying.”

Both parents were hospitalized, with the father being released that day, but the mother being kept at the hospital overnight.

According to a GoFundMe for the Williams family, there will be a Stop the Hate Rally in support of the family on Saturday, June 1 at Alamo Square Park.

Related: House Fire Near Alamo Square Potentially Linked to Racist Threats [SFist]

Image: @SFFDPIO via Twitter