Police ID chemical in apparent chemical suicide

Police have identified one of the chemicals used in a deadly homemade bomb that killed a young woman and injured five police officers who tried to save her. Newburgh police say the homemade chemical

News 12 Staff

Jun 3, 2015, 1:21 AM

Updated 3,247 days ago

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Police ID chemical in apparent chemical suicide
Police have identified one of the chemicals used in a deadly homemade bomb that killed a young woman and injured five police officers who tried to save her.
Newburgh police say the homemade chemical bomb that killed 26-year-old Victoria Harris and poisoned five officers outside her home Sunday night was made from a chemical used in car batteries called hydrogen sulfate.
Officials say a woman called them claiming Harris was going to hurt herself. Newburgh officers found the Newburgh Free Academy graduate passed out inside her car at her home on North Dix Avenue.
Police did not know about the chemical bomb, so officers were overwhelmed by the odor when they opened the door. Two of the officers began vomiting and experienced difficulty breathing.
In all, five officers were hospitalized overnight for chemical poisoning.
The officers are currently at home recovering. News 12 has learned that they will be cleared to return to the department within the next few days.
 


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