MCKINNEY TEXAs - A heavy glass door is all that stood between damaging flames threatening a family planning clinic in McKinney and an arsonist's sights.
McKinney police and fire crews responded to a small fire that broke out around 10:05 p.m. Tuesday at the front door of the Planned Parenthood clinic, located in a block of stories in the 1700 block of Eldorado Parkway, clinic, police and fire officials confirmed on Wednesday.
McKinney police Lt. Mark Moyle and McKinney Assistant Fire Chief Frank Roma said crews quickly extinguished the flames and only reported minor damage as a result of the fire. An investigation revealed the presence of the device that contained "flammable liquid" that was thrown at the building. The incident is still under investigation by the McKinney Fire Marshal and the McKinney Police Department.
Police have not made any official arrests or identified any suspects connected to their investigation as of Wednesday. Moyle said police and fire marshal officials are still investigating the incident.
Holly Morgan, director of communications for Planned Parenthood of North Texas in Dallas, said the person or persons involved in the attack threw a Molotov cocktail, consisting of diesel fuel in a glass bottle with a lit rag, at the clinic's front door.
The device shattered the front door's glass window but the flames did not reach beyond the front door and only minor damage was reported.
"It didn't penetrate the health center office and none of the staff or patients were there, which is great," Morgan said. "It scorched the outside of the door and I believe there was a little scorching to the retail locations on either side of it."
McKinney police officials have taken some of the remains of the device as evidence and cleaned up the facility, so the clinic could remain open the following morning.
Morgan characterized the attack as unprecedented, not just for the clinic but also for their entire North Texas operation.
"We have not had this kind of violence at any of the other locations in the past," she said. "I believe we've had some vandalism in the past but that was a decade or so ago. We have never had any kind of attack to this degree."
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