Acid allegedly poured onto 3 Mass. park slides, leaving 2 children injured
06/13/2023 2:16 pm PDT
LONGMEADOW, Mass. (TCD) -- An investigation is underway after a common pool cleaning chemical was allegedly poured onto playground slides at a local park, injuring two children over the weekend.
According to a press release from the Longmeadow Fire Department, on Sunday, June 11, shortly after 9:30 a.m., Longmeadow Fire and Police responded to Bliss Park Playground to a report of a "suspicious substance" on the park equipment. Around the same time, the fire department and EMS received a separate report of two children who sustained burnlike injuries after returning home from the same park.
The children’s mother, Ashley Thielen, told WGGB/WSHM-TV she brought her kids to the playground earlier in the day, and they ran up to her crying after reportedly sliding through a chemical puddle.
Thielen told the news source, "I just assumed it was rainwater. I didn’t really think much of it, and then, my baby, who is 1, just started crying. That was when I knew this liquid that they were around wasn’t water."
One of the children’s legs was reportedly swollen and blistered, but Thielen said her kids’ injuries are superficial and are not life-threatening.
The fire department determined the substance was muriatic acid, and it had been poured onto three slides at the park. Investigators allege an unidentified suspect or suspects climbed over two fences and tore off a cover ventilation shaft before breaking into the pool building behind the playground and stealing the chemicals.
According to the fire department, the chemicals had been "stored properly in a secured area," and a "great deal of effort was employed to enter this space."
Investigators believe the possible suspect or suspects sustained acid burns to their hands or arms, and their clothing might have been impacted from contact with the chemicals.
The playground has reportedly been cleaned and will remain closed throughout the week. However, the rest of the park will be open.
Massachusetts State Police gathered evidence from the scene, some of which has been sent to the "crime lab for forensic analysis and fingerprinting."
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