In a shocking incident in the rural town of Bácsalmás, a man fatally stabbed his former partner and seriously injured their son before slashing his own throat, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Bács-Kiskun County Police Headquarters on police.hu. Authorities are working to unravel the events and causes that led to the horrific tragedy, which has left five children orphaned. Details of the Hungarian horror story unfold below.

Hungarian horror story: He attacked the woman and his son with a butcher knife

According to reports, on Tuesday afternoon, the woman was walking down a street in Bácsalmás with her underage son when her ex-partner (who is also the child’s father) emerged from a bushy area where he had been hiding. As the victims approached, the man, identified as Félix L., jumped out and stabbed the woman, Kata K., and her son with a large butcher’s knife, then turned the blade on himself. The police reported that the woman died at the scene, while the boy was airlifted to the hospital. Authorities have launched a homicide investigation, and data collection is ongoing.

11-year-old son tried to shield his mother from the rampaging father

According to on-site reporting by Blikk, police were still at the scene well into the evening, and neither the perpetrator’s nor the victim’s body had been removed. The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the small community, with residents mostly talking about the five now-orphaned children who bear no blame in the matter. The newspaper reports that the 11-year-old boy tried to protect his mother with his own body from his enraged father, sustaining a stab wound above his heart and in his left shoulder. After realising his partner was dead, the man stabbed himself in the chest and then slit his own throat.