Woman arrested for murder in killings of 8 children in Australian home

SYDNEY – An woman has been arrested for murder in the killings of 8 children in an Australian home.

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said Saturday that the 37-year-old woman was currently under guard at a hospital in the northern city of Cairns. She is the mother of seven of the children found dead in the house. The eighth child was her niece.

Police haven’t said how the children died. But Asnicar said they’re examining several knives in the home that may have been the weapon used to kill the children.

The woman was also found in the home with the children, suffering from stab wounds to the chest. Asnicar says she is lucid and talking to police.

Asnicar says the children ranged in age from 18 months to 14 years.