Five Stabbed Including 3 Infants in Queens ‘Birthing Center’ Attack

queens babies stabbed

Twitter/Ariel Hernandez A 52-year-old Queens, NY day care worker stabbed five including 3 infants from 3 days to 1 month old and two adults, the NYPD said. She cut her wrist police said but was treated and is now in a hospital in police custody. Twitter image by Ariel Hernandez.

Three newborn babies are hospitalized after an horrific attack by a knife and cleaver-welding woman, police said.

According to the NYPD, a worker at what was previously described as an overnight child care center in Queens went berserk and stabbed three infants and two adults and slashed her wrist but survived and is in police custody at a New York hospital.

The suspect has been identified as Yu Fen Wang, 52, a worker at the location, according to a report quoting a “senior NYPD official.”

The three infants stabbed ranged in age from 3 days to one month old, the NYPD said.

The location is in the East Flushing neighborhood of Queens. Reports say police found a butcher knife and a bloodied meat cleaver at the scene. The NYPD only confirmed “two knives” were found at the scene.

There were conflicting reports about conditions; The New York Times reported victims are in critical but stable condition and a police scanner Twitter account reported two are dead.

Another report from a Queens news outlet claims all of the five victims are dead.

NYPD Queens North Asst. Chief Juanita Holmes said the victims are “critical but stable.”

As is often the case, early in breaking news stories, reports conflict. Heavy can report five were stabbed and their conditions, per the NYPD are critical.

The attack occurred at around 3:30 a.m., reports indicate. The NYPD says the adult female victim was stabbed multiple times in the torso and an adult male victim was stabbed in the leg.

The location, Mei Xin Care Inc, is described as a day care that also provides overnight child care center for people who work night shifts. All child care centers in New York City are regulated by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, but a Heavy search of licensed NYC centers on the DOHMH database does not include this location address or facility name.

It’s reported by ABC7 New York that the location may actually have been a “birthing center, which partially served as a place for immigrant women to deliver babies in the United States.” It’s reported there were a total of 9 infants in the multi-family dwelling.

New York State assembly member Ron Kim said that lawmakers would crack down on unlicensed child facilities.

“We thank the @NYPDnews @NYPD109Pct for their handling of this ugly situation. My colleagues and I will work with the authorities and get to the bottom of this and make sure it won’t happen again.”

At a lunchtime press conference, Kim said that there are “legitimate business models that are opening up maternity hotels around the country and they’re licensed,” explaining that in immigrant communities residents depend on neighbors for help in large measure because many struggle financially. Kim said that while the center has been running for a decade, it’s done so illegally.

Kim said Flushing lawmakers and representatives will “work closely” with the police, city and state and “make sure we crack down on unlicensed children’s facilities.”

This story will be updated.