WINNIPEG — Two young children were taken to hospital Thursday after they and a 33-year-old woman were stabbed at a government-run housing complex in downtown Winnipeg.
A nine-year-old boy and a four-month-old infant sustained stab wounds to their upper bodies. The infant’s condition was later upgraded to stable but the older boy was listed as critical.
“Any time a stab wound happens to a four-month-old, no matter how superficial it might be to an adult, it would be critical to a four-month-old,” said Winnipeg Police Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith. “It’s being treated very, very seriously right now.”
The 33-year-old woman was taken away on a stretcher and was reported to be in stable condition with injuries to her arm.
Police said an adult female who is related to the children was arrested and the child abuse unit has been called in to investigate.
Witnesses described a horrific scene.
“I was just coming in the building and that little boy was screaming and yelling,” said one woman. “He showed the security his stomach and he was stabbed on his stomach.”
The nine-year-old boy, wrapped in blankets, was sitting upright and appeared conscious and calm as he was taken away by ambulance.
Another woman said there have been problems before at the building, which also contains a daycare centre.
“It’s really rowdy and it’s noisy and there’s always complaints all the time in the building.”