A homicide investigation has been launched after police found a three-year-old boy dead from stab wounds and a man critically injured at a unit in Sydney's southwest.
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Emergency services attended the unit complex on Washington Avenue, Riverwood, about 4pm on Wednesday.
Police located the dead child and a 45-year-old man with serious injuries after responding to concerns for their welfare.
Multiple media outlets reported the man's wounds were self-inflicted.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital in a critical condition under police escort.
Superintendent Sheridan Waldau said the attack on the child appeared to be a "horrific" domestic violence-related incident.
"Any kind of incident involving a small child is always a tragic incident and our condolences go out to the family of the child," she said.
Supt Waldau said police believed the mother of the child died a few years ago and the child was living with the man.
The unit was the home of a female relative, who called police with her concerns, she said.
Supt Waldau said the 45-year-old man had undergone surgery and was now in a stable condition, and the homicide squad had been called in to work on the investigation.
"Police attend domestic violence incidents all the time, we attend 140,000 incidents every year, and unfortunately some of them end up in homicides," she said.
Anyone with information about the incident has been urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
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Australian Associated Press
