Police are continuing to investigate an attack against a 21-year-old transgender woman who was beaten with a baseball bat in Ballard but have stopped short of labeling the assault as a bias crime

"We just don't have enough information at this time to know if this is a quote-unquote hate crime," said Seattle Police Department spokesman Mark Jamieson.

"Just because the victim is a transgendered person does not necessarily mean it was a bias crime," Jamieson said.

According to police, the victim reported that she had been crossing the road at 28th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 67th Street on Aug. 16, headed toward her home, when a woman with a baseball bat, and a man, started following the victim.

The woman with the bat approached the victim, according to a police report taken four days later, and said, "I don't want to see you around the skate bowl anymore." The Ballard Commons Park, at 5701 22nd Avenue Northwest, has a skate bowl.

The bat-wielding woman then struck the victim on the side of her head with the bat, the victim told police.

The "nature of the head injury" was not immediately apparent, police said, and the victim did not seek medical attention for several days.

The victim's parents reported the assault to police on Aug. 20 after their daughter was admitted to the hospital for surgery, police said.

A medical professional told police that the victim had suffered a subdural hematoma — a potentially fatal brain injury with symptoms that can emerge slowly — and that a portion of the victim's skull was removed for treatment.

The victim's father wrote a letter to neighbors and a community blog in Ballard seeking information on the suspect.

On Tuesday, he said that his daughter has been reluctant to discuss the attack with her parents.

Jamieson said the attack has been classified as an "aggravated assault" and has been assigned to a detective.

If an arrest is made, prosecutors will decide whether to pursue bias-crime charges against the attacker, he said.

"If we get a suspect and a motive, we could say we think this meets the criteria, but ultimately that's decided by prosecutors," he said.

Police and prosecutors would need evidence that the attack was prompted by the victim's gender identity and that the attack was not, for example, something personal between the two women, Jamieson said.

Jamieson said police have similar issues when they investigate a shooting incident between two people with known gang affiliations. While the shooting could be "gang related," it could just as easily turn out to be a fight over a shared romantic interest, he said.

"It could be a bias crime," said Jamieson, "but right now, we just don't know."

The victim's parents are asking anyone with information on the incident to contact Seattle police at 206-625-5011 and reference case number 2011-273665.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com. Information from Seattle Times researcher Gene Balk has been included in this report.