KEY POINTS

  • The attack happened on May 24  at Washington Park Playground
  • The woman was captured on camera spraying people with mace
  • The attack followed a scuffle between children in the park
     

A 42-year-old woman who was caught on camera spraying a three-year-old child and five others with mace at Washington Park Playground has turned herself in to police, officials said.

The incident happened on May 24 around 8 p.m.

Cincinnati Police Department said Terri Shelton turned herself in to authorities Monday afternoon after they released the video of the attack recorded by nearby cameras, WCPO reported. The woman has been charged with 6 counts of misdemeanor assault, police said.

While the court documents do not reveal much about the motive or the moments leading up to the attack, victims and witnesses had said that Shelton approached the victims near the park gate and sprayed mace into their faces.

According to Local 12, the surveillance cameras captured Shelton walking up to the park gate and pulling out a small bottle of mace before spraying several people around, including the toddler.

"It was a little hard to believe. It was awful. It was very very upsetting," CPD Det. Alicia Henson told the news outlet.

Reports said moments before the attack, there was a scuffle on the playground between children so a few kids ran off to their parents. That's when Shelton launched the mace attack.

The violent attack shocked the parents. A parent, Maggie Baldwin who regularly brings her child there, told Local 12 that despite the incident the park was "family safe."

"You can’t let one bad person ruin everything for everybody; it's just not fair. If we do that, then that person wins and it’s just not like that. This is a family-safe park, no matter who you are, no matter what you look like. This park is for you," Baldwin said.

Police began a search for Shelton following the attack and on June 11, they released the video of the incident. After the woman turned herself in, Cincinnati Police put up a post on Twitter that read: "THANK YOU to everyone who shared this surveillance footage."

Shelton is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon.

In March, police had arrested a man for pepper-spraying a gas station owner in Oakland. The man was caught on camera attacking the Asian gas station owner, which police termed as a "hate crime."

arrested
Representational image Pixabay
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