Seven people were treated at two local hospitals July 25 after a mysterious substance caused many patrons of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) District Library branch in the Westgate Shopping Center—as well as those at a neighboring Kroger supermarket—to complain of a strange smell, nausea, burning eyes and skin, and difficulty breathing. After receiving a call from the library around 9 p.m., emergency crews arrived at the shopping center and treated as many as 25 people.
Ann Arbor police believe that the chemical agent was pepper spray and that it was released in the library bathroom and somewhere in the supermarket. Investigators have used library and shopping center security cameras to isolate two teenage boys who visited both establishments. One library patron also reported opening the bathroom door to intense fumes, and then seeing two teenage males laughing nearby, the Ann Arbor News reported July 26.
“Thus far, it appears to be some kind of prank committed by a few teenagers that we haven’t identified, but we’re following leads,” Detective Sgt. Jeff Connelly said in the July 27 News. Fire department and hazardous materials crews cleared and tested the building’s air supply overnight and approved it for reopening on July 26, NBC affiliate WDIV-TV reported July 26.
Posted July 27, 2007.