‘She was beet red’: Woman shocked after granddaughter exposed to pepper spray at Edmonton playground

A number of children are recovering after being exposed to pepper spray while at a playground in northwest Edmonton.

Several children are recovering after being exposed to pepper spray at a playground in northwest Edmonton.

• Get the latest Edmonton updates right to your inbox

CTV News Edmonton arrived at the community playground near Dovercourt School when crews were cleaning the playground on Friday. The park at 135 Street and 122 Avenue was closed with police tape blocking off the area.

Police said they received reports of mischief around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. Emergency medical and fire crews treated the children exposed to pepper spray. Officials would not say if the kids were intended victims of the substance.

Doreen Pokornik has lived in the area for 40 years. Her granddaughter was one of the children exposed to pepper after playing in the playground with other daycare kids after school.

“Before I knew it, I heard her screaming,” Pokornik told CTV News Edmonton on Friday. “I ran over .. and I grabbed her and she was just burning.”

“She was beet red. Her eyes were burning. She was crying. Her mouth was burning.”

Pokornik said “she has never seen anything like this” in the neighbourhood. She said her granddaughter is doing better after receiving medical attention for more than two hours.

“It’s very hard to comprehend why somebody would stoop that low,” she said, worried about the trauma to the kids.

Edmonton police are trying to determine if there are additional incidents.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall