Woman stabs three newborns, two adults at New York nursery

Undergoing psychiatric exam, treated for self-inflicted wounds

NEW YORK — A woman stabbed five people — including three newborn babies — and then slashed her wrist early Friday inside a New York City home that was apparently being used as an unlicensed neighbourhood nursery for new mothers and their children, authorities said.

All of the victims in the attack, which happened before 4 a.m., were hospitalized but expected to survive.

The 52-year-old suspect — an employee at the nursery — was taken into police custody and was being treated for her wounds and undergoing a psychiatric examination, authorities said. No immediate charges were filed, and police said the motive was under investigation.

Investigators were trying to piece together what happened inside the building, a three-storey, multi-family town- house in a neighbourhood popular with Chinese immigrants in the Flushing section of Queens. Nine babies were there during the attack, and the place had at least 11 cribs, the district attorney’s office said.

Officials said it appeared it was an unlicensed facility for new mothers and their babies to convalesce for a month, in keeping with Chinese tradition.

Police responding to a 911 call discovered a 3-day-old girl and a 1-month-old girl who had been stabbed in the abdomen, and a 20-day-old girl with cuts on her ear, chin and lip. The father of one of the children and a woman who worked there were also stabbed, police said. A butcher knife and meat cleaver were found at the scene.

The woman suspected in the attack was discovered bleeding and unconscious in the basement, and after officers applied a tourniquet, she regained consciousness and was taken to the hospital, police said.