Toddler dies and mother and child injured during farmhouse stabbing in Co Antrim
A toddler has died, and a baby and their mother sustained serious injuries, during a stabbing at a house in Northern Ireland.
Detectives say they are not seeking anybody else in connection with the death at the rural farmhouse some miles outside the Co Antrim town of Larne.
A woman aged in her thirties and the infant are receiving treatment in hospital, police said.
She is a nurse who had moved to the area in the last few months, neighbours said.
A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) statement said: “Police can confirm that an investigation has commenced into the circumstances surrounding the death of a young child in the Larne area today.
“A woman in her 30s and a baby are currently receiving hospital treatment for injuries.
“The investigation is at an early stage and police are currently not looking for anyone else in connection with the death.”
A major police and emergency services operation has centred on the property at Bankhill Road throughout Monday.
Neighbours say they heard a helicopter and saw police and ambulances on Monday morning and initially thought it had been a farming accident.
A laneway to the property has been sealed off by officers and forensics experts are gathering evidence.
Neighbour Rhonda Kernohan said: “I heard the sirens and the helicopter, the air ambulance, came and it landed up at the back of the farm.
“We thought it was a farm accident but when we looked out there was a lot of shouting and a lot of police, a lot of ambulances about.”
She added: “This is a quiet, rural, peaceful area.”
Another neighbour said the woman who lived at the house was a “youngish girl”.
They added: “It was very sad. We are feeling absolutely awful, so sad it is terrible.
“The shock of it, when it happens nearly on your doorstep.”
The scene is at a house and outbuildings along a narrow lane high on a hillside overlooking Larne Lough, south of the port town of Larne.
White boilersuit-clad forensics experts combed the area for clues.
Another neighbour said: “It is an absolute shock. We thought it was a farming accident initially. It is a real tragedy.”
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