Vancouver acid attack self-inflicted Police say

VANCOUVER -- An investigation indicated that the reported acid attack on Bethany Storro was self-inflicted, Vancouver police said Thursday.

They called the incident a hoax during a Thursday afternoon press conference and the results of the investigation will now be turned over to the county prosecutor's office.

Chief Clifford Cook said discrepancies started to appear as detectives started to investigate the case. Thursday morning, they served a search warrant at her home, then interviewed Storro, who who told them the attack was a self-inflicted hoax, he said.

A motive for the fabrication has not been determined, the chief said.

The chief said the case unfortunately has cast Vancouver, in particular the downtown area where the hoax took place, as an unsafe area.

Sgt. Scott Creager, who investigated the case, said frankly that "I'm glad it did end this way." There is no predator that the public needs to fear in what he described as a "happy ending" of sorts. The reason for the press conference today was to allay public concerns about safety.

Commander Marla Schuman said Storro was very upset and remorseful, and did not expect the story to take on the scope that it did.

The chief said Storro's parents have not been interviewed since the revelations of today. It would be "speculative" to characterize their prior knowledge of the new information, he said.

Storro and her parents could not be reached for comment.

Storro met with media last week

A remarkably upbeat and candid Storro, 28, sat in front of reporters a week ago at Legacy Emanuel Hospital and described how a woman threw acid on her face.

She spoke for about 20 minutes, sometimes laughing, sometime crying, using a tissue to dab at her eyes or nose, the only part of her face not covered in bandages.

Storro said she held the press conference to draw attention to efforts to find the attacker, but also to talk about her faith.

"I'm here today because of Jesus Christ," she said.

The strength of her faith will allow her to move forward, Storro said, though several times she said that the attacker coming forward to admit what she had done would be an enriching part of that. -via-