An Australian schoolgirl has survived a random attack that saw a man slice her face 20 times with a box cutter.
The 12-year-old girl, who lives in Brisbane, was walking to school at around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday morning when a man assaulted on her in a pedestrian tunnel. She managed to fight the attacker off and run to her school—Kingston State College. People quickly came to help and noted that she had blood pouring from her face.
The girl, whose name has not been made public, was taken to Queensland Children's Hospital and underwent surgery on Thursday afternoon. In a press conference, detective and acting inspector Grant Ralston said the assault "can only be described as vicious and cowardly." "The young girl was minding her own business on her own walking to school with her school bag and this offender has struck the victim for no reason.
"The young girl is very brave. She fought as best she could and eventually, after being struck approximately 20 times to the face, she managed to pick herself up and run towards her school at Kingston."
The attacker has been described as an 18-year-old, white male with a narrow face and short light-brown hair. He was reportedly wearing a fluorescent yellow shirt. He remained silent during the attack and fled the scene in the opposite direction to the girl. "It's quite amazing that nothing was said by the offender," Ralston said. "It was a person that approached this young girl and simply started striking her in the face.
"It's hard to believe this has happened and to struck her so many times in the face and for her to actually have the courage to fight him off. He was bigger than her, he was older than her. She is really incredible and she will make a recovery but it's horrific."
Queensland police have now assigned as many as 30 detectives to find the attacker. Another man was spotted in the area—assumed to be in his 50s—but police do not believe he was involved in the attack.
The girl is dropped off nearby the school each day and chooses to walk the last leg. She is usually accompanied by a friend. "As fate would have it, her friend who usually walks with her wasn't there, and so she was walking to school on her own when she was attacked," Ralston said. "We don't want to scare the public, we urge everyone to remain vigilant.
"This was a one-off offence and we want to catch the person who did this."
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