BRIDGEPORT — It's got all the makings of a Halloween horror flick: Kids getting cut by razor blades placed on playground equipment.
It's actually happened before — at least twice in 2014, in East Moline, Ill. and outside Philadelphia — but did it occur in Bridgeport?
Not exactly.
Some panicked Facebook posts making the rounds show a "razor blade" purportedly plucked from a slide at Wilson Park, a tidy playground and field at 1122 W. 34th Place.
But park district officials say the small jagged shard isn't a razor blade at all, and the woman who was actually cut by it believes the incident was just a random mishap and not the work of a psychopath.
Casey Cora says Facebook helped spread incorrect rumors about a nearby park:
"In no way do I feel that someone deliberately placed it there with the intention of harming anyone. My belief is that it was stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe without their knowledge, and just happen to fall off at the park," said Noreen Griffin, a 23-year-old Canaryville mom who was cut and bloodied by the mangled metal while playing with her 2-year-old daughter last week.
Griffin posted a photo of her holding what appears to be a screw, and the social media post took on a life of its own.
Chicago Park District officials "did go out there and do a thorough sweep" after seeing Griffin's photo, park district spokeswoman Kiera Ellis said.
A parks employee determined the "screw did not come from our playground equipment. ... We went out there and did not see anything else like it," Ellis said.
The small park recently received new playground equipment and it doesn't appear the the metal piece is part of any equipment assembly.
Ellis said parents concerned with the safety of park equipment should notify park employees immediately. If anything seems more sinister, they should contact police.
Griffin said she immediately tossed the screw in a garbage can.
"Before we let [my daughter] play on anything else, we went through and checked the entire playground and found nothing," she said.
Lou Sandoval, president of the park's volunteer advisory council said parents in the area shouldn't be worried.
"We take a lot of pride in the park here," he said. "My kids play here three or four times a week. I would not let my kids play here if there were issues."
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