Senior fends off knifers

‘Just a little trouble here,’ says feisty 71-year-old

Three people were stabbed inside a Harlem housing complex Saturday morning, including a gritty 71-year-old grandmother who tried to fend off the attackers, police sources said.

“We just had a little trouble here,” Lilian Austin told The Post, downplaying her bravery. “I’m all right. Just some trouble with teenagers. I don’t even know what happened with this mess. I have faith in the good Lord because he will protect us.”

Three male suspects cut the grandma and her two grandsons, Jayquan Hazel, 22, and LA Austin, 24, about 1:30 a.m. in the Carver Houses on East 104th Street near Madison Avenue.

The attackers had knocked on the victim’s door, and one of the men stated, “Something has to be done,” before they got inside, police sources said.

Hazel was the first to be stabbed, suffering a head wound before he locked himself in a bathroom. The suspects then targeted LA Austin, stabbing him in the back.

That’s when the brave grandmother intervened. She suffered some cuts to her hand before the attackers fled, but refused medical attention, police sources said.

Her grandsons were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital with non-lifethreatening injures.

A tenant who lives on the same floor heard fighting and screaming that started at midnight and went on until about 3 a.m.

“Don’t know if it was a man or woman. It sounded like they were being held against the floor, and they were screaming ‘Let me go!’ The person sounded terrified,” the tenant said.

A disheartened Carver House resident who has lived in the building for 50 years lamented about intercoms that don’t work, broken locks and a lack of security.

“New York City Housing has to know what’s going on,” the woman said. “There’s a lot of traffic going in and out. It’s a sad situation . . . There’s people attacking the elderly around here.”