Arson suspect found dead after Chapel Hill hotel fire worked there, town says
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- Chapel Hill crews responded to a hotel fire Friday morning near East Franklin St.
- Police believe a suspect remains inside the Siena Hotel despite evacuation efforts.
- Investigators are probing links between two Friday fires in southern Orange County.
A man suspected of setting a fire at the Siena Hotel that sent guests fleeing early Friday morning was found dead after the blaze, Chapel Hill police said.
Police identified him as 60-year-old Randall Moore Bullock of Chapel Hill but have not said how he died or provided a possible motive.
On Friday night, a town spokesperson said Bullock worked at the hotel.
The Chapel Hill Fire Department responded to the fire at 1505 E. Franklin St. around 4:30 a.m. It was one of two fires reported Friday in Orange County, but officials said they don’t appear to be related.
The hotel fire forced about 50 people to evacuate, and one person was rescued from a balcony when it became too smoky to leave through the hotel, said Alex Carrasquillo, the town of Chapel Hill’s communications manager.
Bullock was found around noon.
The upscale hotel is about two miles east of downtown Chapel Hill and includes an Italian restaurant. East Franklin Street was closed for much of Friday between Estes Drive and Elliott Road and reopened by 3 p.m.
ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner interviewed two hotel guests, with one saying they saw a man carrying a hammer and a butcher’s knife on the stairwell and another seeing a “big ball of fire” come out of the elevator.
Police never made contact with Bullock, who had barricaded himself in the hotel, Carrasquillo said, and there were no other reported injuries. Investigators are still assessing the damage.
Bullock was a longtime night clerk at the Siena, said Glenn Boothe, a friend from their college days at UNC-Chapel Hill. Bullock had succeeded Boothe as music director of the university’s radio station in the early 1990s.
Bullock later formed a label, Jesus Christ, that released music from several local indie-rock bands in the mid-1990s. But after that he became more reclusive, filling his home on Hickory Drive with records, books, newspapers and videos, Boothe said.
Bullock never married and had no children, Boothe said. The night clerk position was a “punch the clock” job that paid the bills and allowed Bullock to focus on his interests, Boothe said.
Twice last month, Boothe, who books bands in area clubs, went with his friend to local indie-rock shows and did not notice anything that would indicate Bullock was on edge.
“I just don’t see Randy being the kind of person to hurt other people,” he said. “This whole thing is shocking.”
Fire reported in Carrboro
The hotel fire was one of two fires reported Friday morning in southern Orange County.
The Carrboro Fire-Rescue Department received a report of a fire at Gates of Beauty Auto Shop at 405 E. Main St. at 7:48 a.m.
East Main Street was closed near West Rosemary and West Franklin streets in Carrboro. The closure extended to North Greensboro Street.
As of noon Friday, investigators were still working to identify the cause of the fire, Police Chief Chris Atack said.
“We don’t have any information to link our fire with the incident in Chapel Hill,” he added.
News & Observer reporter Dan Kane contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 8:06 AM with the headline "Arson suspect found dead after Chapel Hill hotel fire worked there, town says."