(ANSA) - Aviano, April 12 - A USAF airman stabbed an American woman soldier at the Aviano air base in northern Italy at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, sources said Wednesday.

Cameron Ashley Owens, 19, from Georgia, was arrested for the attempted murder of the 21-year-old woman.

Owens confessed but did not explain his actions, police said.

The young man, after getting into one of the dormitories, stabbed the sleeping woman in the throat, face and arms with a kitchen knife, sources said.

The victim, serving in the 31st Support Squadron of the 31st Fighter Wing, did not know or frequent her aggressor.

The woman's terrified screams and the fear of being discovered, police said, stopped Owens from inflicting more wounds while the woman was helped by some comrades who staunched the bleeding until an ambulance arrived to take her to Pordenone hospital where she as said to be out of danger.

