A young child is safe and a suspect has been charged with attempted murder after a woman was brutally attacked in a west-end Toronto parking lot as she tried to save her child from an alleged kidnapping attempt.

The 31-year-old woman is in "very, very serious condition," Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner said at a news conference Thursday morning at the scene of the incident.

She underwent surgery for what was described as a life-threatening head injury.

Taverner said the woman had just left a building on Richgrove Drive, in the Eglinton Avenue and Martin Grove Road area, with her 2½-year-old son when they were accosted by a man in the parking lot.

The woman was struck in the head with a "heavy object," said Taverner, not confirming earlier reports that the weapon used was a hammer.  

"We haven't located the weapon at this point," he said.

Witnesses reported seeing the man put the child in a black four-door pickup truck as the woman was left on the ground severely beaten.

"It would appear that he was waiting for her in the parking lot," Taverner said. "The man is known to the victim. There is some family turmoil going on but that's all I can say right now."

He said he doesn't know whether the man is the child's father.

A short time after the attack, a 35-year-old man arrived at a Peel region police station with the child in tow. Toronto police went to the station to speak with the suspect, who has been placed under arrest by Peel police.

The child did not appear to be injured but was taken to hospital for a precautionary check-up.

Police cordoned off the parking lot where the incident occurred so that investigators could collect evidence.

Detectives have been poring through footage from several video surveillance cameras placed around the building's property.

Police have spoken with witnesses but are looking to speak with others who saw what happened.

Anyone with information is being asked to call police at 416-808-2300 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.

Besides attempted murder, the man, a Brampton resident, faces the following charges:

  • assault with a weapon
  • possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace
  • abduction

He is scheduled to appear at the Finch Avenue West courthouse on Friday.