Woman suffers severe burns in a chemical attack at Georgia park

SAVANNAH, Georgia — A Georgia woman was hospitalized with severe burns after someone poured a corrosive chemical on her head while she walked in a public park in Savannah, the victim’s son and a close friend said Friday.

Savannah police confirmed they are searching for a suspect in the chemical attack in Forsyth Park, one of the historic city’s iconic green spaces that attracts runners, picnickers, children playing and tourist tourists. Police said the woman appears to have been attacked by an unknown person.

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 covered about half of his body, including his scalp, face, hands and legs.

“We don’t know who did this,” he said. “She has no enemies. She is everyone’s friend.”

Westley Wasielewski said his mother was doing a few laps in the park Wednesday evening after attending a Christmas program at a nearby church. He discovered the attack thanks to a call from a passerby who came to his mother’s aid. He said he could hear her screams of agony over the phone.

From her hospital bed, Ashley Wasielewski told 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. She was turning toward the person when he poured liquid on her head, said Connor Milam, a close friend.

“She immediately asked me: ‘Why are you pouring water on me?’ “And then her skin started burning,” said Milam, who was in the burn unit with her friend. “She looked down and her pants were starting to burn her body. She started screaming.”

Savannah police spokesman Neil Penttila said Friday that detectives were working with the FBI to identify the chemical used in the attack. Wasielewski’s son said investigators told the family the product was so corrosive that it melted his mother’s car key fob that was in his pocket.

Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther said officers have been conducting additional patrols in Savannah parks since the attack. No arrests had been announced as of Friday afternoon.

Police said they were searching for a person of interest and released a security camera image of a man wearing what appeared to be a dark hooded sweatshirt with a large cartoon rabbit on the front. Police said in a social media post that the man was “currently not a suspect in any crime.”

“Our police department is treating this matter with the utmost urgency,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said in a Facebook post. He added: “While this attack is deeply disturbing, there is currently no information indicating a broader or continuing threat to the public. »

Police have not named Wasielewski as the victim. Her son and Milam both said she wanted to share her story in hopes people would come forward with information that would help police make an arrest.

Milam described her friend as a generous person who volunteered at a local nature center and packed grocery bags of snacks, toiletries and other essentials to give to the homeless. She said Wasielewski’s loved ones were shocked and disconcerted by the attack.

“They didn’t rob her. They didn’t take anything from her,” Milam said. “It was a random person in the park who went out of their way to disfigure another human being.”