Pepper spray empties store

About 140 people were evacuated Friday from SuperTarget after a substance authorities believe was pepper spray was released in the store.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical responded about 8 p.m. to the store at 3201 Iowa to reports of at least 20 customers and employees complaining of coughing, runny noses and watery eyes, Battalion Chief Mark Bradford said.

“All the signs and symptoms are consistent with pepper spray,” he said.

SuperTarget employees told authorities they’d seen a group of eight to 10 juveniles around the store just before and after the substance was released. That information has been forwarded to Lawrence Police, Bradford said.

Baldwin resident Kathy Johansen and her daughter, Kyleigh, were shopping when they noticed something strange.

“One person started coughing, and it was like a chain reaction,” Kathy Johansen said. “Now our lungs are hurting. We just want to make sure it’s not anything dangerous.”

Paramedics set up a treatment station at the south end of the store and were evaluating three customers and 10 store employees, Bradford said.

A hazardous materials team took several air samples but didn’t detect anything, Bradford said. Fire & Medical made sure the store was ventilated properly and turned it back over to management. The store reopened before 9:30 p.m.