Police believe a mother is behind an alleged stabbing attack on three young children in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, that left one child dead and two others fighting for their lives. The woman, in her 40s, is also in critical condition in hospital.
Children found in car with stab wounds
The three children, all under five, were found in a vehicle by bystanders on Sunday afternoon. Despite witnesses rushing to the vehicle at Valley Heights to help, one child was found dead. The car had partially turned into a vacant block, near a trail leading into the national park, and the woman was outside the car nearby.
Members of the public helped deliver first aid to the other youngsters while waiting for emergency services to arrive. The alleged domestic violence incident came at the end of a horrific weekend across New South Wales, with three women allegedly murdered inside their homes within a 12-hour period on Saturday.
Father informed while at work
Superintendent John Nelson, the Blue Mountains area commander, said the woman was not known to police and the children's father has been informed. The dad was at work when he received the call. Nelson said: “You can imagine receiving that tragic news. That person is at work, going about their business, and they’ve had this information provided to them.”
“All of Sydney, people are just going about a lovely Sunday afternoon and to be confronted with this is traumatic and tragic for anybody.”
Mother treated as suspect
The mother and children were treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Westmead hospital and Westmead Children’s hospital in a critical condition, where they remain. Police deputy commissioner Peter McKenna said: “The two children and their mother are in a critical condition. The mother is the suspect in this matter, for domestic related homicide, and that investigation is ongoing.”
McKenna described the past two days across the Australian state as devastating. He told Nine News on Monday: “It’s a horrific and tragic weekend and it’s like one that I don’t remember in my career. Those three … plus the no-more-tragic situation that we had in the Blue Mountains. Put them all together and it’s unfathomable.”
The stabbing became the fourth domestic violence-related incident in just 24 hours. Elsewhere in New South Wales, a woman was found decapitated in her home and an elderly woman had been allegedly stabbed to death in Bondi by a relative.
