A man has been taken into custody after petrol was thrown over a female staff member at Charles Darwin University. A classroom door was also set alight at the Casuarina campus in Alawa, Darwin, on Friday morning.
The ABC reported that a man, thought to be sniffing petrol, spoke with a female staff member on campus at about 8.30am.
When she went to walk away from him, he allegedly threw petrol onto her back. She escaped to a classroom, shut the door, then saw a flame outside it, Det Sgt Karl Day said.
A small area of the campus was locked down during the incident. Day said the woman was unharmed. The Northern Territory News reported that a 15-year-old girl was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital after suffering a reaction to the petrol fumes.
The man was reportedly apprehended by police at Dripstone Cliffs about 10am. He is not believed to be a student at Charles Darwin University.
A spokeswoman for the university declined to comment to Guardian Australia. A spokeswoman for NT police confirmed that a man had been taken into custody and that detectives from the serious crime squad were investigating the incident.
