Police: Arizona mother kills 3 young sons, stabs herself

PHOENIX, June 2 (Reuters) - A 29-year-old woman stabbed and killed her three young sons before seriously wounding herself inside a north Phoenix home where she lived, police said on Thursday.

Phoenix police said the boys - aged 2 months, 5 years and 8 years - were discovered with multiple stab wounds inside a closet by officers who were called early on Thursday to what a spokesman described as a "horrific scene."

SEE ALSO: Police: Gunman in UCLA murder-suicide had planned 3 killings

The youngest child was found in a case, the two other sons were wrapped in clothes inside a bedroom closet at the residence, said Phoenix police spokesman Sergeant Trent Crump. The house was owned by the woman's mother.

The mother was in critical condition at an area hospital with self-inflicted stab wounds to her abdomen and neck, but was expected to survive, Crump said.

Authorities said officers were called to the house by the suspect's brother who met her in a garage as he returned for the day.

"She was talking about religion and how she found the answer to life," said Crump, adding that the woman then locked the brother out and went inside.

The man forced his way into the house and found the woman bleeding from stab wounds, Crump said. Crump said the man left to get some towels and called police, then returned to find the woman trying to drown herself in the bathtub.

The woman, who police said may be in the early stages of pregnancy, was treated at the scene and transported to the hospital. Her name was not immediately released.

He said the three bodies were then found by arriving officers.

"(This was) an absolutely horrific scene for the officers and for her brother to arrive to," Crump said. (Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix; Editing by Curtis Skinner and Frances Kerry)