Bleach Battle At Baltimore Walmart Sends 19 To Hospital

After an altercation involving two women and bottles of bleach and ammonia at a Walmart Supercenter in Baltimore on Saturday, 19 people were sent to the hospital and the store was shut down temporarily.

Local news WBAL says one woman was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault, theft under $100 and malicious destruction of property. Cops say she followed another woman into the store, assaulted her in an aisle and grabbed whatever she could find to hurt her enemy — in this case, bleach and ammonia. She allegedly continued to pour the household chemicals on the victim as she was down on the ground.

The two women, apparently embroiled in an ongoing dispute as the victim’s boyfriend has a child with the alleged attacker, weren’t the only ones affected by the brawl. The store was evacuated and 19 other people were taken to the hospital.

“The problem was, with bleach and ammonia in a closed environment, they can be strong irritants to the eye and to the respiratory passages,” said Glenn Blackwell, director of the Baltimore County Fire Department Fire-Rescue Academy. “So, from that standpoint and the fact that we were getting a lot of calls from inside the store, it was best to call the hazardous materials team and evacuate the store.”

Walmart reopened the store two hours later, and released a statement saying it does not expect this type of behavior from customers, and it apologized for any inconvenience.

Arrest Made In Walmart Bleach Brawl [WBAL]

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