Eight-year-old twins who were allegedly stabbed to death at their home in Ireland were then ‘thrown out the window’ during a heated confrontation with police trying to reason with their killer.
Christy and Chelsea Cawley , both aged eight, and their 18-year-old sister Lisa Cash, all died at a property in Tallaght, Dublin, in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The suspected perpetrator of the horrific triple killing, who is believed to have been known to the family, is believed to have stabbed all three victims.
It has now emerged that the 24-year-old knifeman allegedly threw the twins out of the top window during a clash with armed police who tried to reason with him from outside.
arrived – having been alerted by their brave 14-year-old brother who escaped by jumping from a window and running for help, Dublin Live reports.
Meanwhile, the twins’ sister Lisa was discovered lying at the bottom of the stairs with apparent stab wounds – and police fear she was also thrown or pushed down by the killer.
Sources say a man, who is known to all three victims, refused to comply with officers ordering him to put down a large kitchen knife he was allegedly holding when they arrived at the scene at around 12.30am.
The man was inside the house, brandishing the knife and refusing to allow police into the home, it is claimed.
The armed stand-off continued for some time while the man, wielding the knife, shouted at brave officers who attended the scene.
He was also seen handling one of the children near the window of the house – as officers begged him not to harm the child further.
Police from Tallaght Garda Station, backed up by armed detectives and subsequently members of the Armed Support Unit, attempted to rescue the children. However, it is understood they were already dead by the time they got access to them.
It is understood that the assailant entered the house in Tallaght and came at the twins, Lisa and their 14-year-old brother with a knife in a frenzied attack.
Sources say the alarm was only raised after the 14-year-old jumped out a window of the house and ran to a nearby house.
During the stand-off, the man threw Chelsea and Christy out of a window after they had already suffered catastrophic stab injuries.
Police eventually fired non-lethal rounds at the suspect, and were able to access the house, where they then discovered a man hiding in the attic.
Locals described seeing police “dragging” a man out of the house as the children, Lisa and their mother ‘Twink’, who arrived at the scene, were rushed to hospital.
Shocking footage of the incident also spread on social media yesterday.
The footage, which showed police at the scene, captured some of the horror – with screaming and shouting heard throughout.
At one stage in the video someone can be heard shouting “Don’t do it. Don’t f**king do it.”
The smashing of glass can be heard after this, as well as more screaming and shouting.
In another video of the incident someone can be heard shouting to a man in the window to “show us your f**king hands”.
Last night the 24-year-old suspect remained in Garda custody in Tallaght Garda Station.
Detectives are now set to launch a full murder investigation into the horrific deaths.
The 14-year-old boy who jumped out of the house and ran for help also had to be hospitalised – after suffering serious leg injuries from the fall.
The children’s mother, who was not in the house at the time of the incident, later arrived at the scene.
She was uninjured, but went to the hospital with her children. She was later released and officers said she is being supported by her family.
Post-mortems were due to take place yesterday and today by State Pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis. Police said they were not looking for anyone else at this time.