The mother of a three-year-old boy allegedly stabbed to death by his father died a few years before the horrific incident unfolded, police say.
Police and paramedics found the toddler’s body inside a unit in Riverwood, southwest Sydney, alongside his father, 45, who had serious injuries believed to be self-inflicted.
Emergency services were called to the property at 4pm on Wednesday after receiving a call from a woman related to the father.
Police believe he allegedly stabbed his son before turning the knife on himself.
Doctors at St George Hospital performed emergency surgery on the man, who is now in a stable condition under police guard.
According to police, the little boy’s mother died a few years ago, with the three-year-old believed to have been living with his father.
Detectives will investigate the ‘traumatic’ incident as possible domestic violence.
The man’s partner, who wasn’t at the scene, is speaking with police.
Amber Macdonald, who lives in a nearby building, told Daily Mail Australia she was shocked to see police swarming the street.
‘It was scary. I felt like I was in America,’ she said.
Police and paramedics found the toddler’s body inside a unit in Riverwood, southwest Sydney, alongside his father, 45, who had serious injuries believed to be self-inflicted
Police and paramedics found the toddler’s body inside a unit in Riverwood alongside his father, 45, who had suffered serious injuries
Emergency services were called to the property in south-west Sydney at 4pm after receiving a call from a female relative of the father
Ms Macdonald said she was ‘devastated’ to learn about the little boy’s death.
‘How can someone do that?’ she said.
Colleen Du-Rocher, who lives several floors above where the boy died, said she heard relatives of the father and son screaming when they arrived at the scene.
‘I was shocked to hear a man was here with a child because this block is meant to be for 65s and over,’ she said.
Ms Du-Rocher said she was devastated by the boy’s death, having 20 grandchildren and great grandchildren herself.
‘I was horrified. I nearly fell off the roof,’ she said.
‘I was thinking ‘imagine if I had all my little babies here [at the time]’.’
Local resident William Robertson said the high amount of violence in the area had prompted him to buy a guard dog.
‘There have been murders here in recent years,’ he said.
‘I want to walk out of my door with the hope of not being assaulted.’
Amber Macdonald, who lives in a nearby building, said she was shocked to see police swarming the street. She said the incident made her feel like she was in ‘America’
Detectives will investigate the ‘traumatic’ incident as possible domestic violence
It is understood police believe the 45-year-old man allegedly stabbed his son before turning the knife on himself (pictured, paramedics at the scene)
Superintendent Sheridan Waldau said the incident was ‘horrific’.
‘Any kind of incident involving a small child is always a tragic incident and our condolences go out to the extended family of the child,’ she said.
‘Unfortunately, police attend domestic violence incidents all the time, we attend 140,000 incidents every year and unfortunately some of them end up in homicides.
‘It’s one of the jobs that we as police always hate going to.’
Commander Waldau said officers involved were being offered help.
She added that police had yet to speak to the boy’s father in depth as he recovers from surgery and have only had ‘very limited interactions with him’.
Riverwood Community Centre has offered the local community support and the first responders support in the wake of the ‘tragic’ incident.
‘In this difficult time, our thoughts are with the entire local community,’ Councilor and Chair of Riverwood Community Centre, Karl Saleh said.
‘This is indeed a tragic afternoon for the young boys family, it’s a tragedy for our local community and first responders as well.’
Colleen Du-Rocher, who lives several floors above where the boy died, said she heard relatives of the father and son screaming when they arrived at the scene
Images from the scene show dozens of uniformed and plain-clothes officers and paramedics entering the unit as shocked onlookers stood on the pavement
Riverwood locals were seen performing Tai Chi outside the apartment building on Thursday
Images from the scene show dozens of uniformed and plain-clothes officers and paramedics entering the unit as shocked onlookers stood on the pavement.
A crime scene has been established and officers from the homicide unit are investigating.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
