3 Infants, 2 Adults Stabbed at Daycare, Female Suspect in Custody

Three infants were injured after being stabbed at a home day care center in Flushing, Queens, CBS [...]

Three infants were injured after being stabbed at a home day care center in Flushing, Queens, CBS New York reports.

A suspect is in custody, a 52-year-old woman who was found unconscious on the basement floor of the center with self-inflicted wounds to her wrists.

Two adults were also stabbed in the incident, and the suspect and victims were taken to the hospital. They are reportedly in critical but stable condition.

The three infants stabbed were girls ranging in age from three days to one month old. Six other babies were also inside the home but were not injured. The three day and one-month old girl were reportedly stabbed in the stomach while a 20-day-old girl had a laceration to her ear, chin and lip.

The adults that were stabbed include a father of one of the children at the center who was stabbed in the leg and a female co-worker who was stabbed multiple times in the torso.

NBC New York reports that police say a butcher knife and meat cleaver were recovered at the scene. The incident took place at around 3:45 a.m. on Friday.

Police say the incident began with the stabbing of the female co-worker before the father intervened and was injured. The infants were attacked last. Someone called 911 and the suspect is currently in police custody at the hospital.

The day care was a home-operated center and it is unclear whether the home is a legal child care facility. An official said the location was a maternity center where mothers would take their newborns and workers would care for the infants. Foreigners could also give birth there so that their children would become American citizens.

A spokeswoman for the state's Office of Children and Family Services said the home is not an OCFS-licensed or regulated childcare program. A program would need prior OCFS approval to care for infants under six weeks old and programs regulated by the agency are prohibited from doing such without that approval.

"OCFS is saddened by this horrific situation and investigating it as a possible illegal operation," the agency's statement said.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

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