SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia woman is hospitalized after someone poured a caustic chemical on her head while she was walking in a park in Savannah, causing severe burns, the victim’s son and a close friend said Friday.
Savannah police confirmed they are looking for a suspect in a chemical attack in Forsyth Park, one of the historic city’s iconic green spaces that attracts runners, picnickers, playing children and sightseers. Police said the woman appeared to have been attacked by a stranger.
The victim, 46-year-old Ashley Wasielewski, 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 covered about half of her body, including her scalp, face, hands and legs.
“We don’t know who did it,” he said. “She didn’t have any enemies. She was everybody’s friend.”
Westley Wasielewski said his mother was walking in the park Wednesday night after attending a Christmas service at a nearby church. He learned of the attack in a phone call from a bystander who came to his mother’s aid. He said he could hear her screams of agony over the phone.
Ashley Wasielewski told family and friends from her hospital bed that she was walking along the sidewalk surrounding the park when she noticed the shadow of someone approaching her from behind. Close friend Connor Milam said when she turned to face the man, he poured some liquid over her head.
“She immediately said, ‘Why did you pour water on me?’ and her skin started burning,” said Milam, who had been in the burn unit with a friend. “She looked down and her pants started to burn off her body. She started screaming.”
Savannah police spokesman Neil Pentilla said Friday that detectives are working with the FBI to identify the chemicals used in the attack. Vasilevskiy’s son said investigators told the family the substance was so corrosive that it melted a car key fob in his mother’s pocket.
Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther said police have been conducting extra patrols in parks across 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 black hoodie with a large cartoon bunny on the front. Police said in a social media post that the man was “not a suspect in any crime at this time.”
“Our Police Department is handling this case with the utmost urgency,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said in a Facebook post. “While this attack is deeply disturbing, there is no information at this time to indicate a broader or ongoing threat to the public,” he added.
Police did not disclose that Wasilewski was the victim. Both her son and Milam said she wanted to share her story in the hope that people would come forward with information that could help police make an arrest.
Milam described her friend as a giving person who volunteered at a local nature center and filled grocery bags with snacks, toiletries and other necessities to give to homeless people. She said those close to Vasilevskiy were shocked and confused by the attack.
“They didn’t rob her. They didn’t take anything from her,” Milam said. “This was a random guy in the park who went out of his way to destroy another human being.”