photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A Lawrence Police Department patrol vehicle is pictured June 28, 2022.

A woman will likely be spending the next few days in the hospital after she was beaten with a metal pipe at a homeless encampment near the Lawrence Amtrak Station, according to police.

Officers found the woman around 5:30 p.m. Saturday near Seventh and New Jersey streets. The woman appeared to have been hit in the face and head several times, and her face and clothes were covered in blood, according to a social media post from the Lawrence Police Department. Investigators believe that the incident occurred at the nearby campsite, the post said.

Emergency crews took the woman to an area hospital for treatment; while the woman is “expected to be OK,” she will be hospitalized for several days, the post said.

Police located the weapon believed to be used in the crime and arrested a suspect near Eighth and Massachusetts streets.

The suspect, Shawnda Danea Hess, 35, of Lawrence, was arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated battery in connection with the incident and is being held without bond.

Hess had been charged with aggravated assault in February for allegedly threatening a woman with a BB gun during an argument outside the DARE Center, 944 Kentucky St., as the Journal-World reported. The jail booking log indicates that she was granted probation in connection with that incident and most recently was arrested on Sept. 12 for violating her probation and was released on Oct. 26 after posting a $2,000 surety bond. Records detailing the conditions of Hess’ probation were not immediately available.