By Perry Duffin and Esther Han
A child is dead and an adult is being treated for serious injuries following a stabbing in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday afternoon.
Emergency services rushed to a unit complex in Riverwood about 4pm after receiving a call from a woman who police say is related to the man and a resident of the unit.
Emergency services on the scene after a fatal stabbing in Riverwood on Wednesday afternoon.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
A three-year-old boy was found dead inside the Washington Avenue unit by Campsie police.
A 45-year-old man, also at the scene, was found with serious injuries. NSW Ambulance paramedics treated him at the scene and he was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
“He underwent surgery and he’s now in a stable condition,” Superintendent Sheridan Waldau from Campsie Police Area Command said on Wednesday night.
“A crime scene was established and investigations have commenced ... The homicide squad is now on the scene and assisting us with those inquiries.”
A distressed woman is escorted to an ambulance at the scene.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
Police are investigating the “horrific” incident as possible domestic violence.
Waldau said the boy’s mother had died a couple of years ago. Police believe he was living with the man.
The woman who made the call to emergency services is understood to have lived by herself at the unit where the stabbing occurred and is related to the man.
The man’s partner, who was not at the scene of the incident, is speaking with police.
“We are urging anyone who may have witnessed any incident at that location or heard anything to contact Campsie police or Crime Stoppers,” Waldau said.
“Any kind of incident involving a small child is always tragic ... Our condolences go out to the extended family of the child.”
Photographs of the scene showed officers entering the unit complex as crowds gathered on the footpath outside.
Teams of paramedics and uniformed and plain clothes police were seen racing into the building. Residents gathered outside as the police helicopter circled overhead.
Anyone with information is being urged to call police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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