INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) – Authorities are investigating after a 7-year-old was seriously burned while playing with an 8-year-old.

Independence police Officer John Syme says it’s not clear what happened before the younger child suffered severe burns to his face and upper body on Aug. 6. Syme says the children were playing together at an Independence apartment at the time with no other witnesses present.

Police aren’t identifying the children. But The Kansas City Star reports that the burned boy’s mother is Ashley Lyons. She says her son, Julien Sandlin, was doused with nail polish remover and set on fire with a candle while he told the other child to stop. She says her son may need skin grafts.

Police are classifying the case as a suspicious medical call for now.