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Hypodermic needles stuck in neighborhood tree prompt mom to act

Posted at 10:16 PM, Nov 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-20 09:49:55-05

Liam Schmitt loves to climb trees almost as much as he loves superheroes. So, you can imagine how upset his mom, Laura, was when she saw something disturbing and potentially dangerous jammed in one of their neighborhood trees.

"There were two needles," Laura Schmitt said. "They were both filled with liquid. One was a dark color. It appeared to me like it could be blood."

Schmitt was so angry, she posted the pictures on Facebook. "It was stuck in the back side of this tree trunk right here," she said, pointing to a tree right down the street from where five-year-old Liam and his two-year-old brother, Bryce, play in their neighborhood, near Silverado Ranch Road. For Schmitt, this is no game.

"I was very concerned about my children and the children in the neighborhood, maybe walking home from school during this time frame, being exposed to it and possibly touching it," Schmitt said.

Her husband, David, now worries about his family's safety. "Something really horrible could happen," David Schmitt said.  "It filled me with rage, anger. You want to hope that you’re always there, hovering over them, making sure they don't get into something they don't know and they pick it up."

The Schmitts told 13 Action News police removed the syringes and are looking into. The couple hopes this never happens again.