WARREN COUNTY, OHIO — A 3-year-old boy was viciously attacked by a neighbor Thursday morning. Investigators with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office said the horrific incident occurred at 8:44 a.m. in the 6600 block of Charleston Park Drive, located in Deerfield Township.
The initial dispatch information was, “Medic 57. Rescue 57. EMS 56. A stabbing with a plastic knife.”
First responders found the boy suffering from stab wounds to the neck and back. He was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and is expected to recover.
Investigators determined that the weapon used was a ceramic knife, and that the attack was committed by a woman who lives in the house next door.
In an odd turn of events, it was the suspects daughter who first alerted authorities that something was wrong. She was participating in a virtual learning session with Mason City Schools and privately told her teacher that something was wrong.
Her teacher quickly called 911, saying, “I am a teacher and I’m on an online class and I have a student who said she thinks her mom stabbed someone. She was bawling and said she thinks her mom just stabbed someone,” the teacher said.
The boy’s mother also called 911, saying that his back was covered in blood.
Mason City Schools spokesperson Tracey Carson said the 3-year-old is the younger brother of a Mason student and they were all outside on their way to the bus stop. “That hero of a teacher knew exactly what to do and made sure that her student was safe,” Carson said.
Neighbors are shocked that this could happen in their community. Neighbor Sharon Bond commented, “I got quite surprised because this neighborhood is quite safe. “My heart goes out to this child and their family because I think it’s one of the worst traumatic events that could ever happen to anybody. I mean, my little girl is 4 years old and it could even happen to her
The woman, who was not publicly identified, is undergoing evaluation at a local hospital, according to investigators. They also say that they do not yet have a motive in the case.
The neighbors were faced with a startling dose of reality. The fact that an innocent and defenseless child was suddenly and brutally attacked in his driveway by his next-door neighbor, herself a mother of school aged children, in an upscale community clearly shows that anything can happen anywhere at any time. It is only one of a plethora of reasons why we carry.
