Two men doused with gasoline, set ablaze by co-worker, cops say

Christopher Harrison Jr. allegedly doused two co-workers with gas and lit them on fire. (Baltimore County Police)

Two men suffered serious burns on Friday and remain in critical condition after a co-worker doused them with gasoline and lit them on fire, cops said.

Christopher Harrison Jr., 28, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and second-degree assault and is being held without bail, FOX 45 reported. A second person is “being sought” but not considered a suspect "at this time," according to Baltimore County Public Safety’s official Twitter account.

“They kept pushing him and pushing him, saying that they wanted to fight him"

— Anthony Rodriguez

One of the victims sustained burns to 90 percent of his body during the incident along Route 40 in White Marsh, Cpl. Shawn Vinson said.

“His burns are so significant that his clothes were burned off of him at the scene,” Vinson told WBAL-TV.

The other victim had burns on 60 percent of his body, according to Vinson.

Four men were driving two separate cars when one ran out of gas, investigators believe. After filling up gas canisters at a nearby station, the men walked back to their vehicles where an argument ensued. Cops believe Harrison then doused the victims with gasoline before lighting them on fire around 4:40 p.m.

Harrison had an ongoing feud with at least one of the men, Anthony Rodriguez told WBAL-TV. Rodriguez works at the same company as Harrison and the burned men; that company has not yet been identified.

“They kept pushing him and pushing him, saying that they wanted to fight him,” Rodriguez said.

David Widener, who videotaped the incident, told WBAL-TV he initially began recording because he thought an ordinary fight was about to break out.

“They had agreed to settle it,” Widener said. “Nothing besides that was said, even leading up to the altercation. They both took their shirts off and appeared like they were going to fight.”

A graphic video shows the victims, their bodies still covered in flames, screaming in agony and running in a vain attempt to extinguish the fire as a shocked group of onlookers stand nearby.

“We did receive this video,” Vinson said. “We do have that video as evidence that we’ll use to further our investigation and hopefully assist the prosecution of this case.”