A woman has stabbed five people, including three newborn babies, inside a New York City home that was apparently being used as a neighbourhood nursery, police say.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The woman then slashed her wrist, according to police.
All of those wounded in the attack, which happened before 4am local time on Friday, were hospitalised and are expected to survive.
The 52-year-old suspect was taken into police custody.
No immediate charges were filed, and police said the motive was under investigation.
Investigators are trying to piece together what happened inside the building, a three-storey, multi-family townhouse in a neighbourhood popular with Chinese immigrants in the Flushing section of Queens.
Questions have been raised over whether the place was operating as an unlicensed childcare facility.
Police responding to a 911 call discovered a three-day-old girl and a one-month-old girl who had been stabbed in the abdomen, and a 20-day-old girl with cuts to 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.
After officers applied a tourniquet, she regained consciousness and was taken to the hospital, police said.
State records indicate that a business called Mei Xin Care Inc was registered at the address.
Australian Associated Press