CHICAGO—Police say a woman walked into U.S. Rep. Danny Davis’ office on Chicago’s West Side, drank out of a bottle of hand sanitizer, poured the sanitizer over herself and set herself on fire with a lighter.
Authorities haven’t identified the woman who was taken to a hospital in serious condition with burns. Police say her condition has stabilized.
Davis wasn’t in the office at the time.
A news release from Davis’ office says the woman came in around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Davis says he doesn’t know why. He says the woman only spoke with office staff briefly before picking up the hand sanitizer. Staff responded with a fire extinguisher, but the woman ran out while still on fire.
Davis is a Democrat who was first elected in 1996.
“We really don’t know why; we never got to that point,” Davis told the Chicago Tribune.
“Often times people sign a register or a book with their name and address but she never got to that point,” Davis said. “We don’t know her and we don’t know exactly what she may have been coming for.”
Davis said that he didn’t witness the incident, but he hopes the woman recovers.
Epoch Times contributed to this report.
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