San Leandro, Calif. (KNTV/NBC News) — San Leandro police say a 12-year-old boy was simply waiting for a family member to finish an appointment inside a Wells Fargo Bank in San Leandro when a 32-year-old woman stabbed him in the back three times
Police said the boy thought he’d been punched in the back, but being punched in the back was actually the knife entering his body.
Authorities say the boy is from out of state and had just arrived this past weekend to visit family.
A San Leandro police spokesman said, “I can only imagine what this boys going through, the shock, the scare, he’s probably frightened right now.”
According to witnesses the woman also robbed another person making a cash deposit.
Security guards were able to contain the woman for a short time, before she rushed out — right into the hands of the police.
Police later identified the suspect as Iyona Hammond of Oakland, California.
The charge of attempt murder has replaced the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon, due to the severity and location of the boy’s wounds, coupled with the fact that the assault was unprovoked and she attacked the boy from behind.
The 12-year-old boy remains in stable condition and will undergo surgery for his wounds.
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