A 30-year-old mother was hospitalized after a stranger repeatedly stabbed her with scissors as she protected her 10-year-old son in Melbourne's CBD. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon on Spencer Street. According to Victoria Police, a 27-year-old man allegedly "randomly punched" the woman's 10-year-old son, then continued walking. He then turned around, grabbed the mother in a headlock, and stabbed her repeatedly in the back and left shoulder with a pair of scissors.
The attack happened just outside the Melbourne West police station, allowing officers to attend the scene "within a minute." Police Superintendent Zorka Dunstan, one of the responding officers, said she was "horrified" by the attack.
"I was in my office upstairs, saw what was happening, I came down. One of the boys, he's an 11-year-old, he was crying ... absolutely impacted by what he saw. I gave him a hug because I was impacted just watching how he reacted," she said.
The mother was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was in a stable condition. Police said her 10-year-old son was also taken to hospital "as a precaution." The other two children were not injured.
Police confirmed the man was known to authorities in New South Wales and Western Australia with a history of family violence and assault charges. He was not on bail at the time of the alleged attack. Police said there was "nothing to suggest there was any motivation" behind the incident and suspected it may have occurred during a mental health episode.
The alleged attacker has been deemed "not fit for interview yet" and will remain in police custody ahead of questioning.
Dunstan described the actions of the bystanders as "heroic." She told media she had said to the 10-year-old boy "how lucky that we had such good people intervene and help his mum."
"Any offending of this nature is horrific anywhere, so not just outside the police station, anywhere in the city or outside the city," she said.
"Without a doubt, without their intervention, it could have been a lot worse. So, we are so grateful for their assistance, and I'm sure the family are as well."