LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Three people were hospitalized Monday morning following what appears to be a mental health crisis that led to an altercation between a woman and another woman and her teenage daughter, police said.
According to Lauderhill police, the incident occurred at about 6:30 a.m. in the area of Inverrary Boulevard and Spanish Moss Terrace.
Police said the suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, approached the teen at a bus stop, snatched her cellphone and then dragged the girl to a nearby apartment building on Spanish Moss Terrace.
Neighbors say the cries for help were impossible to ignore.
“I hear a little girl screaming, you know, ‘help, help, help,’ and that was it,” one neighbor said. “A lot of noise, but a little kid was bawling, crying.”
Police said the victim’s mother came out of her home and confronted the suspect, at which point a physical altercation ensued.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she ran toward the fight.
“I went to my safe. I got my gun. I got my knife,” the woman said. “By the time I got down to the lobby, I did see fighting and fighting, and then the glass broke.”
Police said the suspect pushed the girl’s mother through a glass window, causing significant cuts to her arm.
The mother, in defense, used a piece of broken glass to stab the suspect, authorities said.
According to police, officers arrived at the scene a short time later and used a Taser to try to subdue the suspect, who “continued to batter both victims despite her injuries.”
The suspect was eventually apprehended and taken to Broward Health Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The mother and daughter were also taken to local hospitals, but are expected to be OK.
Police said it appears the suspect was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the attack.
“The family was disturbed throughout the whole situation and it was really kinda hard,” one neighbor said.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with further information is asked to call the Lauderhill Police Department at 954-497-4700 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.
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