Police arrest father suspected of killing child and injuring mother in knife attack

Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, have arrested a man who allegedly killed his child and seriously injured the child's mother in a knife attack on Wednesday morning.

The man was located in the Costa Brava village of Albons, not far from Bellcaire d'Empordà where the stabbing occured. The perpetrator was found in possesion of a knife and covered in blood.

The child, a boy aged around four or five years old, was attacked in his bed.

The couple were in the process of separating, a source close to the case told the Catalan News Agency (ACN). 

Woman alerts neighbor

Police were alerted around 5:45am on Wednesday morning. The injured mother, aged 29, managed to leave the flat and alert a neighbor. 

 The couple are in the process of separating and there is a possible history of gender-based violence from last year, according to the same source. The man, aged around 40, was the child's biological father.

When officers arrived, they found the child and woman who were both treated by paramedics from the Medical Emergency System (SEM). 

Unfortunately, the boy died as a result of his injuries. 

The mother was transferred to Josep Trueta University Hospital in Girona. According to a source there, she remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Arrest 

Police arrested the man just after 11am in a street in the center of Albons (Baix Empordà). The suspect was walking in his work clothes and covered in blood when a Mossos d'Esquadra patrol found him and placed him under arrest. 

Police officers discovered the knife with which he allegedly committed the crime. 

According to a source close to the case, the man did not sleep in the house where the attack took place; he went there in there in the early hours of the morning. 

During the afternoon, police brought the 27-year-old man to the crime scene to recreate the events, in which, according to sources, he partially acknowledged the crime, as he said that he had used his keys to enter the house and that he was carrying a knife. The testimony took place in the house while accompanied by police and the judge investigating the case.

He said that he entered the house and went straight to the 29-year-old woman's room and jumped on the bed, where both, the child and the mother, were sleeping.

The boy got scared, and while crying, he ran to his room. The man said that the last image he had of the child was of him facing down and without moving.

Minute's silence 

Bellcaire d'Empordà Council will hold a minute's silence at 7pm on Wednesday evening to condemn the crime. 

The mayor, Josep Molinas, said the village was "shocked," and announced that three days of official mourning will be decreed. The mayor also said that social services were not aware that the family had requested help at any time and that the family had been living in the house on Carrer Ter Vell in Bellcaire for between four and five years.

 

Authorities have set up a psychological care service at the local primary school, which is located just 20 meters from where the attack took place. 

Women suffering from gender-based violence can call the free and confidential hotline +34 900 900 120. The emergency services number is 112.