The boy is being treated in hospital for serious burns to his face and one of his arms after the incident in Worcester on Saturday. Police believe he was deliberately targeted.
A 39-year-old man from Wolverhampton was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and remained in police custody yesterday. Images of three men to whom investigators would like to speak were also released by West Mercia police. The incident occurred at about 2.15pm in a branch of the Home Bargains chain of discount stores on Shrub Hill Retail Park in the Tallow Hill area.
Chief superintendent Mark Travis said: “At this time we are treating this as a deliberate attack on a three-year-old boy. The incident will rightly shock the local community and I would like to reassure local people that we are carrying out a thorough investigation to identify those responsible.
“At this time, the motive for the attack is unclear. Officers are working hard to establish exactly what happened and what the substance involved was. The three men in the photo may have information vital to our investigation. I am sure someone will recognise them and I would urge anyone with information to contact us as a matter of urgency.”
The deputy leader of Worcester city council, Adrian Gregson, said he was in the shop next to Home Bargains shortly after the attack. He told the Press Association: “I was in the shop next door when it was going on. It was around mid-afternoon.
“I didn’t know what the situation was – there were a couple of fire engines and a fire incident vehicle and a police car. By that point the ambulance had been and gone. It is the first time, as far as I’m aware, this has happened in Worcester.”
Robin Walker, the MP for Worcester, described the incident as horrific and urged anyone with information to contact the police. “The shock will be universal, anyone conducting such an attack on a small child is just appalling,” he added.
“It’s an issue which rightly there has been a lot of concern (over) in parliament and a move to toughen sentences for any kind of acid attack. But particularly the nature of this being a small child is very concerning indeed.
“At this stage, the key thing is for the police to act quickly and see if they can track down the perpetrator and understand what’s behind it because it is an unthinkable thing to happen.” The leader of Worcester city council, Marc Bayliss, described the attack as “pure evil”.