A 7-year-old girl said she fended off an attacker when he put a knife to her throat at a Detroit park earlier this week.
Detroit Police said the incident occurred Tuesday, according to WXYZ Detroit. Saida M., the girl, was at the park with a family member.
She told the outlet a man approached her while she was playing – and then attacked her with a knife.
“I was playing on a spinning thing that was green,” Saida told the outlet, adding that a man started walking towards her. (RELATED: Three 11-Year-Old Girls Confront Alleged Attempted Kidnapper, Use Their Phones To Film Suspect Grabbing Six-Year-Old)
“And one hand was nothing,” Saida continued. “And he just put my head up. The other thing was a pocket knife. And then he just slide the knife on my throat. I kicked his legs medium hard.”
Saida yelled for help and fled from the attacker, police said.
“She did what she should have done,” Detroit Police Commander Vernal Newson told the outlet.
Neighbors heard her cries for help, including Donna Mockbil, who said she was moved to tears by something Saida told her.
Mockbil described in an interview how she used gauze pads to tend to Saida’s injuries. (RELATED: REPORT: Doorbell Camera Captures Woman Escaping Alleged Abductor With Machete)
“She goes, ‘oh I’m going to die and nobody is going to be here with me,’” Mockbil stated, according to WXYZ Detroit. “And I started getting tears in my eyes.”
Her son tracked the suspect until he was arrested by the authorities. Detroit police said the 73-year-old suspect may have been suffering a mental crisis, the outlet reported.
Saida received stitches at the hospital but is now at home recovering, according to WXYZ Detroit.
