Three teenage girls were taken into custody in Jersey City last month after authorities said they were linked to an alleged acid attack that injured six women, according to a city spokesperson.
The incident unfolded on June 15 near Wilkinson Avenue, where a group of six women was approached by individuals who allegedly threw a substance believed to be sulfuric acid at them, Jersey City Department of Public Safety spokesperson Kim Wallace Scalcione said in a statement provided to INC News.
Scalcione told INC News that investigators arrested three female suspects, ages 13, 14 and 15, in connection with the attack over the following two days, June 16 and June 17.
All six victims were brought to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, including burns to the skin and peeling, Scalcione said.
Buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey, where three teenage girls were arrested last month in connection with an acid attack on a group of six women. (LeoPatrizi)
Among those hurt were three teenagers. One victim, a 21-year-old woman, was transferred to a hospital burn unit after suffering second-degree burns to her face and scalp, according to Scalcione.
The three girls arrested in the Jersey City acid attack are each facing charges that include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon or bodily injury, unlawful possession of a weapon, risking injury and conspiracy.
Authorities believe the attack was not random. Scalcione said the case appears to have been targeted and may have grown out of an earlier conflict involving a larger group.
The suspects’ identities have not been released.
Officials told NBC New York that the women targeted were in their car when the teens drove by on a moped and threw sulfuric acid on them.
Sulfuric acid leaks on the floor. Jersey City authorities believe the girls used sulfuric acid in the attack. (Kittisak Kaewchalun)
According to the National Library of Medicine, sulfuric acid is a corrosive chemical that can cause “severe burns and tissue damage when it comes into contact with the skin or mucous membranes.”
The acid attack in Jersey comes after a 31-year-old man was arrested in Brooklyn for allegedly orchestrating a similar assault on his ex-girlfriend.
Shaquille Coke escorted by police after arrest in NYC acid attack case. (Fox 5 New York)
Shaquille Coke, 31, pleaded not guilty at his March 24 arraignment in Nassau County court on charges including first-degree assault in connection with the 2021 attack on a 21-year-old woman outside her Elmont home.
The substance Coke’s alleged accomplice threw at the victim was later determined to be 70% sulfuric acid, prosecutors said.
