A young mother is dead after being stabbed outside a unit in Queensland, in what senior officers described as a "horrific scene" on a public footpath.
The woman, named in media reports as mother of four Heather Ball, was found with stab wounds on Wednesday night after emergency services were called to the home in Caboolture, north of Brisbane.
"Police were called to a unit in Caboolture to a scuffle, a woman screaming," Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said on Thursday.
"Sadly, when the police turned up a woman had been stabbed. She was taken immediately to the hospital and sadly has passed away."
Queensland Police said the suspect fled the scene on foot to a vehicle that was found nearby before a pursuit began.
Authorities tracked a car travelling to the Sunshine Coast that later crashed into a police vehicle on the Bruce Highway.
Detective Acting Inspector Anthony Green said police attempted to intercept the vehicle near Caboolture before it continued up the Bruce Highway.
"The man failed to stop resulting in the deployment of tyre deflation devices around Yandina before crashing into the rear of a police vehicle a short time later," he said on Thursday.
The driver, a 29-year-old Morayfield man, was arrested and taken into custody.
It will be alleged the man and woman were known to each other in a domestic violence-related investigation.
Det Insp Green said a domestic violence order was in place and the woman, who was in her 20s, "was the aggrieved".
The commissioner said the incident was "an absolute tragedy".
"A horrific scene. A horrific scene, not only for police but for neighbours," Ms Carroll said.
"They have witnessed what has taken place. It is on the footpath in front of their house, their units, and it is very, very difficult for police to deal with, let alone members of the public."
The woman's death is being treated as a homicide.
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