A brazen attack in Jersey City left six people wounded Monday evening when two suspects on a moped hurled an acidic substance at a group of residents, triggering a sprawling police investigation into what authorities are treating as a targeted assault.
Officers responding to the scene found that five women had been standing outside a residential address on Wilkinson Avenue when the attackers rode past and discharged the liquid. The substance has been identified as sulfuric acid. Three of the six victims are teenagers.
The injuries ranged in severity. A 21-year-old woman suffered second-degree burns to her face and scalp and was rushed to a local burn unit for specialized treatment. The remaining five victims are in stable condition, according to Jersey City police.
Detectives believe the assault was not random. Police said the attack "appears to be targeted and follows an earlier altercation," suggesting the incident was rooted in prior conflict between the parties involved.
One minor has been arrested in connection with the incident, though charges remain pending as investigators continue building their case. Law enforcement has not disclosed details about a second suspect or confirmed whether both riders remain at large.
Jersey City Mayor James Solomon responded swiftly to the assault, saying his thoughts were with the injured. "Violence like this has absolutely no place on our streets," Solomon said in a statement. He pledged that police would mobilize all available resources to identify those responsible and secure arrests.
The use of acid as a weapon has become a serious concern in various jurisdictions, and this incident underscores the brutality such attacks can inflict. The speed of the assault, carried out from a moving moped, suggests the perpetrators had planned the attack with deliberate intent to cause harm and escape.
Author James Rodriguez: "This kind of savagery demands a swift police response, and the arrest of a minor suspect shows investigators are moving fast, but the second attacker remains loose on Jersey City streets."
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