Suburban stab attack

Man in hospital after carpark brawl

A MAN is in hospital after being stabbed several times in what horrified witnesses described as a calculated attack.

Emergency services were called to reports of a stabbing at the Bunnings carpark on Howard Rd, Glenorchy, just after 4pm yesterday.

Police last night said early investigations suggested the offender and victim were known to each other and it was not a random attack.

A witness who wanted to be known only as Shaz told the

Mercury she called triple-0 after an “all-in brawl” between two women and two men broke out in front of her car.

“The parties were clearly known to one another,” she said. “The victim and the woman he was with kept telling them to go away because there were kids there but the offender had stalked them out and was ready to attack.

“He just kept saying, ‘I’m going to kill you if I see you again, dog.’ They were all going at it and then he pulled out a shiv and stabbed the other man seven to nine times in the arm and back.”

Paramedics took the man to the Royal Hobart Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Shaz said a young boy and girl were seated in a car just metres away, crying and screaming for their mum.

“It looked like they’d been at the show having a nice day out because the young girl had face paint on,” she said.

“I was frightened for the kids. I just wanted protect them. They should never have heard or seen what they did. ”did”

Shaz said the offender and his partner fled the scene on foot after she told them she’d called police.

Bystanders ran to assist the “shocked” victim, who had wrapped his injuries in a T-shirt.

Shaz said police directed witnesses to attend the Glenorchy Police station to make a statement.

Officers could also be seen

talking to Bunnings employees in the carpark.

Forensic officers combed the scene, paying close attention to a blue Mazda which still had its boot open and an empty pram next to it. No one had been arrested last night..

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to phone Tasmania Police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000.