A seven-year-old girl was stabbed to death by a stranger in a “random” park attack.
The little girl had been enjoying a trip outside with her family when she was fatally attacked in what police call an “unprovoked” incident in Bolton.
A member of the public detained a 30-year-old suspect, who was not known to the girl’s family, in Queen’s Park.
Greater Manchester Police and the ambulance services were called shortly after 2.30pm on Sunday and were sent to the scene.
Officers found the child had been attacked with a knife and was suffering from “extremely serious injuries”. She died a short time later.
Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said she had been enjoying a day out with her family before the unprovoked attack and described it as “a family’s worst nightmare”.
He said: “Words cannot describe how awful this attack is. The family were out in the park, enjoying the spring sun when in a totally unprovoked and random attack this little girl sustained horrendous injuries and sadly died a short while later.
“A 30-year-old woman who was not known to the family was detained by a member of the public and then arrested by the police.
"She is currently in custody for murder and it is expected she will be interviewed by detectives later.”
He said officers are working to understand a motive for the “completely random and brutal attack”.
He added: “We understand that the woman has some history of mental illness and we are working to understand if this played any part in her motive.”
