Arson attack on Martin Luther King Jr’s childhood home in Atlanta is prevented at the last second as off-duty cops arrest woman dousing historic building with gasoline

Law enforcement officials in Atlanta have credited good Samaritans, including two off-duty NYPD officers, with stopping a woman who tried to enter the home of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. to set on fire.

The police were alerted to the house on Thursday around 5:45 p.m. When they arrived, they encountered two New York City officers who had arrested a woman who witnesses said had doused King's family home with gasoline and tried to light a lighter.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told media that in addition to the NYPD officers, two tourists from Utah intervened and helped “save an important part of American history tonight.”

A video circulated online shows a woman dressed all in black pouring gasoline from a large red can over the bushes and porch of the house. Witnesses said she was trying to set a lawyer on fire when they intervened.

The 26-year-old suspect has not been named by authorities, nor has a motive been revealed. According to her, she is a veteran The New York Times.

King's home is federal property, so federal charges could follow. Officials are working with her family in an effort to determine her mental health.

Shortly after her arrest, the woman's father and sisters arrived on the scene. They said they tried to track her down because they were concerned about her and found her through a tracking app on her phone.

Located in the historic Sweet Auburn section of Atlanta, the home is being renovated and closed to the public until 2025.

It is where Martin Luther King lived for the first twelve years of his life. It is now a National Historical Park and is considered to have played a major role in shaping King's life.

In an interview with The New York Times, Zach Kempf, a Utah man, said he thought the suspect was just watering bushes until she started pulling on the front door and appeared to be trying to get into the house.

“That just seemed weird, so we asked her what she was doing, but she didn't respond.”

He described her behavior as “nervous” but not aggressive as she left the scene when Kempf stopped her from lighting the lighter.

“And I yelled at the two guys down the street that she was trying to burn the house down and follow her,” he said.

'The house is obviously so important, and I'm very glad nothing happened to it. But I feel like my main concern now is for her well-being.”

Witnesses said they initially thought the suspect was watering the bushes until she tried to gain entry to the home

Two off-duty NYPD officers stopped the suspect, 26, from leaving the scene as they waited for Atlanta police to arrive

Jerry DeBerry, battalion chief of the Atlanta Fire Department, echoed the police chief's words, saying that if the witnesses had lasted longer, the house could have been lost forever.

“It could have been a matter of seconds before the house went up in flames,” DeBerry said.

'Tonight an unfortunate incident occurred at the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when someone tried to set this historic building on fire. Fortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, thanks to the courageous intervention of good Samaritans and the swift response of law enforcement,” the King Center said in a statement.

“We thank the Atlanta Police Department, the Atlanta Fire Department, the National Parks Service and Mayor Andre Dickens for leading efforts to ensure the safety of our cherished national monument and its adjacent neighbors. Our prayers are with the person who allegedly committed this criminal act,” the press release continued.

Congress declared the house a National Historic Site in 1980, and the National Park Service began offering tours of it in 1982.

The house was built in 1895 for a white family and purchased by King's maternal grandfather in 1909 for $3,500. King's mother inherited it. King's younger brother, A.D. King, and his family were the last of the King line to live there.