Australian Woman Charged For Stabbing 4-Month-Old Grandson In The Face

A 64-year-old Australian woman was charged with attempted murder after she assaulted her 4-month-old grandson with a knife at their suburban home near Brisbane, Australia, on Tuesday.

The incident took place around 6:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. EDT Monday), and the cries of the child woke up his mother at the residence on Ridgeway Street in The Gap, a suburb of Brisbane.

"The mother went into the child's room and found the child in his cot with a second member of the family standing nearby," Inspector Daniel Bragg told reporters, News.com.au reported. "A large knife was located nearby and police have taken possession of that."

The “second member of the family” referred to by the police was later reported to be the grandmother of the baby. The child and his mother were not permanent residents of the house but were visiting from interstate.

The boy’s condition remains serious after he received severe facial injuries. The child was immediately rushed to the Lady Cilento Hospital, where he is currently undergoing surgery.

“The mother found the child in a distressed state with injuries to his face,” Bragg said. “She’s clearly distraught over what’s occurred. She’s provided police with all the assistance she could.”

Bragg also hinted that the grandmother of the child, who was taken into police custody and charged with one count of attempted murder, might be mentally unstable.

“Clearly when a young child has sustained such critical injuries this isn't the work of a well-adjusted, happy individual," he said, ABC News reported.

Following the incident, the street was closed off for the public, pending full investigation. The street was lined with police officers, detectives and forensic experts who were seen trying to find out the details of the incident.

“We’ve got a whole heap of police to determine exactly what has transpired. We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Bragg stated, praising first responders and emergency services for taking over so quickly, after the incident happened. “As police arrived at the scene, the ambulance (officers) were carrying the child to the ambulance to rush to the hospital.”

Braggs also stated that the particular case was harrowing for many police officers who worked the scene, because the life of a small child was at stake. According to him, this kind of a crime scene was the “worst case scenario” possible for a law enforcement officer.

“We deal in trauma, we’re used to trauma,” he said. “But probably the most affecting job you can go to is one involving a child. I wasn’t here when the ambulance arrived, but I’m led to believe the ambulance officers who attended were visibly distressed by what they were dealing with.”

A statement regarding the arrest was released by the police around 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday (2 a.m. EDT Tuesday). The suspect is expected to appear at the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday.