Police in Norfolk, Virginia say a man ambushed a local law enforcement officer with a “caustic substance” Monday morning.
Investigators say a man walked up to a sergeant standing outside a Dunkin’ Donuts and splashed the law enforcement officer with liquid that immediately burned the officer’s eyes, face, and neck, WAVY reports.
An initial investigation of the matter found that the event was unprovoked and officials do not know what exactly was thrown at the officer yet. According to WAVY, the sergeant has serious burn injuries and was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
The suspect was arrested and taken into custody near the scene and charges are now pending.
The incident is another in a series of ambush style attacks on law enforcement that spiked in 2016. Just five days ago a gunman lured two Arizona police officers into a Walmart and opened fired on them.
At the close of last year, 21 law enforcement officers were killed through ambush style attacks. The number, according to a preliminary report by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, was the highest number of ambush deaths in over 20 years. Only eight officers were killed in ambushes in 2015.