SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia woman was hospitalized with severe burns after someone poured a corrosive chemical on her head while she was walking in a public park in Savannah, the victim’s son and a close friend said Friday.
Savannah police have confirmed they are looking for a suspect in the chemical attack in Forsyth Park, one of the historic city’s main green spaces that attracts runners, picnickers, playing children and sightseeing tourists. The Police said that the woman appears to have been attacked by a stranger.
The victim, Ashley Wasielewski, 46, was being treated for second- and third-degree burns at a burn center in Augusta, her son, Westley Wasielewski, told The Associated Press. He said the injuries cover roughly half of her body, including her scalp, face, hands and legs.
“We don’t know who did it,” he said. “She has no enemies. She is a friend to everyone.”
Westley Wasielewski said his mother was walking in the park on Wednesday night after attending a Christmas program at a nearby church. He learned of the attack in a call from a bystander who came to help his mother. He said he could hear her agonized screams over the phone.
From her hospital bed, Ashley Wasielewski told family and friends that she was walking along the sidewalk along the perimeter of the park when she noticed a shadow from someone approaching her from behind. She was turning to face the person when he poured some liquid on her head, said Connor Milam, a close friend.
“She was instantly like, ‘Why are you pouring water on me?’ And then her skin started to burn,” said Milam, who was in the burn unit with her friend. “She looked down and her pants started burning off her body. She started screaming.”
Savannah police spokesman Neil Penttila said Friday that detectives are working with the FBI to identify the chemical used in the attack. Wasielewski’s son said that investigators told the family that it was so corrosive that it melted his mother’s car key that was in her pocket.
Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther said officers have been doing extra patrols in parks around Savannah since the attack. No arrests had been announced as of Friday afternoon.
Police said they were looking for a person of interest and released a security camera image of a man wearing what appeared to be a dark hoodie with a large cartoon rabbit on the front. The Police said in a post on social media that the man “was not currently suspected of any crime.”
“Our Police Department is treating this case with the highest urgency,” said the Mayor of Savannah Van Johnson in a post on Facebook. He added: “While this attack is deeply concerning, there is currently no information to indicate a wider or ongoing threat to the public.”
Police did not name Wasielewski as the victim. Her son and Milam both said she wanted to share her story in hopes that people would come forward with information that would help police make an arrest.
Milam described her friend as a giving person who volunteered at a local nature center and packed grocery bags with snacks, toiletries and other essentials to give to the homeless. She said that those close to Wasielewski are shocked and confused by the attack.
“They didn’t steal her. They didn’t take anything from her,” Milam said. “This was a random person in the park who went out of her way to disfigure another human being.”