Police in Oregon say they are investigating three credible reports of razor blades that were found inside Halloween candy.
The first report of the blades in candy bars occurred on Halloween night, Eugene Police Capt. Chris Harrison said at a news conference Wednesday.
“One parent was looking through their child’s bag of candy, inspecting it, and happened to notice a small slit in the wrapper of one of the candy bars,” he said. “Thinking that was odd, they investigated a little more and opened the candy wrapper and found a razor blade, a small razor blade that was embedded inside the candy bar.”
The razor blade, Harrison said, was about an inch long and was similar to a blade in a manual pencil sharpener. On Tuesday, police got two other reports of razor blades in candy, which apparently were also inserted inside the wrappers through small slits, Harrison said.
The blades were inside two Kit Kat bars and an Almond Joy bar, Harrison said.
Trick-or-treaters likely picked up the manipulated candy within a 4-by-4-block radius, Harrison said.
In an alert issued to the community, the reports were centralized in areas near West 24th to West 27th avenues, in central and south Eugene, Harrison said.
Eugene is about 110 miles south of Portland.
Harrison said Wednesday police had no suspects and declined to specify any investigative techniques as they search for whoever is responsible. He said a senior detective was assigned to the case.
Although stories of razor blades stuffed in Halloween candy have long been urban legends, spread and poked fun of in memes on social media, Harrison said there is nothing funny about the reports his department is investigating.
“We are lucky that nobody was hurt by these razor blades,” he said. “There is nothing in this case at all that suggests it is being fabricated.”
Harrison added he’s disappointed someone would try to harm children during the family-oriented holiday.
Harrison reminded parents to closely look over their children’s Halloween candy and inspect pieces in good lighting, noting that the slits in the three cases were small and hard to see unless someone was looking for them.
He also said parents who picked up candy in the area in question should toss it out.
“I feel for people that were victims of this,” Harrison said. “We take this very seriously.”
