Students at a martial arts academy received a disturbing text moments before a woman and a child were found fatally stabbed at a taekwondo studio and a dead man’s body was discovered at a nearby townhouse.
Horrified parents have revealed to Daily Mail how they were sent a ‘weird text’ by the Lion’s Taekwondo studio in North Parramatta, in Sydney’s west, on Tuesday morning.
The message said lessons were cancelled because the academy’s chief instructor, Master Lion Yoo, was in hospital.
‘Due to injuries resulting from a car accident this morning, Master is currently in the hospital,’ it said. ‘Therefore, Taekwondo classes will be temporarily suspended starting today’.
A woman in her 40s and a child were found dead at the martial arts studio this morning, shortly after the body of a man in his late 30s was discovered at a townhouse complex in Watkins Road, Baulkham Hills, at about 11am.
It’s understood police have been trying to contact relatives of the deceased.
A crime scene at Lion’s Taekwondo Academy in Daking Street, Parramatta, has also been sealed off, with firefighters covering up the windows of the martial arts studio
Homicide detectives have launched an investigation after a woman and a child were found dead in Sydney ‘s west and a man’s body was discovered 5km away in Baulkham Hills
A third crime scene at Lion’s Taekwondo Academy in Daking Street, Parramatta, (pictured) has also been sealed off, with firefighters covering up the windows of the martial arts studio
Master Lion is under police guard in hospital after he waa admitted with serious but non-life-threatening injuries around 1am on Tuesday.
The mystifying text from his academy sent out later that morning announcing that ‘pickup at 3:10 PM for afterschool activities is no longer possible.
‘For parents who applied for afterschool pickup, please pick up your child directly from today,’ it added. ‘We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.’
One mother admitted she knew it was ‘clearly not a car accident when I saw all the police outside the studio when I went to pick up the kids from school’.
Police sources said it was too early to say if the deaths were domestic violence-related but detectives are believed to be probing the possibility of a deadly love triangle.
Master Lion, in his late 30s, is believed to be married with a seven-year-old son, Kai. Parents of his students described him as a ‘lovely man who is very quiet and timid’.
‘How he’s connected to all this is what troubles me,’ added one mother.
The crime scene at Lion’s Academy at Daking Street has been sealed off, with firefighters covering up the windows of the martial arts studio.
It’s understood the black plastic across all the windows facing onto the main street was used to hide the grisly scene inside the studio from bystanders.
Master Lion Yoo (pictured) is under police guard in hospital after he appeared in the emergency department with non-life-threatening injuries on around 1am on Tuesday
It’s understood the black plastic across all the martial arts’ studio’s windows facing onto the main street (pictured) was used to hide the grisly scene inside the studio from bystanders
Forensic officers were also seen scouring an alleyway at the side of the academy building, where locals said they had been told a body had been found.
At the Baulkham Hills address, one detective raced out of a car and ran down the driveway at about 3.15pm, ducking under the police tape and into the crime scene.
The front window of the townhouse has also been smashed, with shattered glass sprayed on to the concrete outside.
State Crime Command Homicide Squad has now taken over the investigation, said a NSW Police statement.
‘About 10.15am today, officers attached to The Hills Police District were called to Watkins Road in Baulkham Hills following a concern for welfare report,’ added a police spokesman.
‘On arrival, police located a deceased man – believed to be aged in his late 30s – with fatal injuries.
‘About 1pm today, officers attached to Parramatta City Police Area Command located two more bodies – believed to be that of a woman, aged in her early 40s, and a young child – at a sporting centre on Daking Street in North Parramatta.’
Police added: Crime scenes were established and examined by forensic police at both locations, which are currently being treated as linked.
‘Inquiries are continuing to establish whether there are links to a separate stabbing in North Parramatta yesterday.
‘Investigations continue.’
The front window was smashed at the townhouse at the Baulkham Hills home where the dead man’s body was found
The woman and child were located at an address in North Parramatta, shortly after the man’s body was found 5km away in Baulkham Hills around 11am (pictured)
Multiple crime scenes have been created in Sydney’s west, including at this address at a townhouse complex on Watkins Rd in Baulkham Hills (pictured)
More to follow