A woman has been seriously injured in an apparent stabbing inside the Joondalup courthouse north of Perth.
She was rushed to Joondalup Health Campus after being attacked about 10:00am in a mediation room at the complex on Reid Promenade.
The woman was treated at the emergency department but the hospital has refused to reveal her condition or give any other details.
Police have released few details about the attack but said a person was in custody.
Janet Lee was in the waiting area of the courthouse next to the mediation room.
“We heard a woman’s screams, and then a guy came running out shouting [for] security. It was all pandemonium then,” she said.
“The staff told us to go outside … when they came out, the staff were saying ‘get towels, get towels, she’s been stabbed’.
“And she’d been stabbed in the throat, in an artery, apparently.”
Ms Lee said before she left the courthouse she saw a man sitting on the floor surrounded by security officers.
“It was horrible … we walked away in shock,” she said.
Police and forensics officers remain at the courthouse, and the building has been closed and taped off.
“Following an incident at the Joondalup Justice Complex … the Joondalup Magistrates Court will be closed for the rest of today,” a spokeswoman for the Department of the Attorney General said.
“Matters listed for today have been adjourned and will be relisted.”
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-20/woman-attacked-in-joondalup-courthouse-mediation-room/8135832