Five people, including three infants between the ages of 3 days and 1 month, were in critical condition Friday after they were stabbed at an unlicensed daycare center in New York City, according to police and reports.
Authorities said a 52-year-old woman, identified as a suspect in the case, was found at the scene with a self-inflicted slash to her wrist. Police were called to the daycare center in Queens around 3:40 a.m., WPIX reported.
Monica Mahaffey, a spokeswoman for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, told the Times that the facility where the stabbing occurred was not a state regulated child care program. Such programs are barred from caring for infants under the age of six weeks without additional requirements, according to the newspaper.
WABC named the center as Mei Xin Care Incorporated.
Neighbors told the Times that they often saw pregnant Chinese women at the facility, prompting suspicions that the center “was also operating as a birthing hotel for Chinese visitors who want to secure American citizenship for their children.”
The newspaper noted that some officials suggested the center might actually be frequented by Chinese women who lacked strong family support in the U.S.
