Possible Arson at House Where South Carolina Cop Charged in Walter Scott's Death Lived

Michael Slager hasn't lived at that house since he was arrested, police said.

ByABC News
January 9, 2016, 1:08 PM
Former police officer Michael Slager walks to the defense table bond hearing, in Charleston, S.C., Sept. 10, 2015.
Former police officer Michael Slager walks to the defense table bond hearing, in Charleston, S.C., Sept. 10, 2015.
Randall Hill/Reuters

— -- Police in South Carolina are investigating whether an arsonist set fire to a house where the former police officer charged with fatally shooting an unarmed black man during a traffic stop previously lived.

The Hanahan Police Department said the fire was reported at the former home of Michael Slager on Friday night. By the time firefighters arrived, the blaze had been put out.

Police said Slager, a former police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, who is charged in the shooting death of Walter Scott, had rented the home. He moved out after he was arrested in April 2015, police said.

Police are looking for a suspicious person seen leaving the area before the fire was reported. The investigation is "in its early stages," police said.

Slager was released on bond Monday. Police did not know where he was currently living.

His attorney, Cameron Blazer, told ABC News today in a statement, "While the events of last night are unsettling, the arson appears to be an isolated incident."