Savannah, Georgia– A Georgia woman was taken to the hospital 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 confirmed they were searching for a suspect in the chemical attack in Forsyth Park, one of the historic city’s prominent green spaces that attracts runners, hikers, children playing and sightseeing tourists. Police said the woman appeared to have been attacked by a stranger.
The victim, Ashley Wasilewski, 46, was being treated for second- and third-degree burns at a burn center in Augusta, her son, Westley Wasilewski, told The Associated Press. He said the injuries covered nearly half of her body, including her scalp, face, hands and legs.
He added: “We do not know who did this.” “She has no enemies. She is a friend to everyone.”
Westley Wasilewski said his mother was walking in the park Wednesday evening after attending a Christmas program at a nearby church. He discovered the attack through a phone call from a passerby who came to his mother’s aid. He said he heard her agonized screams over the phone.
From her hospital bed, Ashley Wasilewski told her family and friends that she was walking on the sidewalk along the perimeter of the park when she noticed the shadow of someone approaching her from behind. Connor Milam, a close friend, said she was turning to face the person when he poured some of the liquid on her head.
“I immediately wondered: Why are you pouring water on me?” “Then her skin started burning,” said Milam, who was in the burn unit with her friend. “She looked down and her pants started burning on her body. She started screaming.”
Savannah police spokesman Neil Pentilla said Friday that investigators are working with the FBI to determine the chemical used in the attack. Wasilewski’s son said investigators told the family that the substance was so corrosive that it melted his mother’s car key, which was in her pocket.
Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunter said officers have been conducting additional patrols in parks throughout 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 appears to be a dark-colored jacket with a large cartoon rabbit on the front. Police said in a post on social media that the man “is not currently suspected of any crime.”
“Our police department is treating this case with the utmost urgency,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said in a Facebook post. He added: “Although this attack is extremely concerning, there is currently no information to suggest there is a broader or ongoing threat to the public.”
Police did not name Wasielewski as the victim. Her son and Milam said they wanted to share her story in hopes people would come forward with information that would help police arrest her.
Milam described her friend as a giving person who volunteered at a local nature center and packed grocery bags with snacks, toiletries and other necessities to give to the homeless. She said those close to Wasilewski were shocked and confused by the attack.
“They didn’t steal it. They didn’t take anything from it,” Milam said. “This was a random person in the park who went out of their way to maim another human being.”