A 21-year-old Edmonton woman says she thought she was going to die when her car was rammed three times by a vehicle while she and her two-year-old son sat inside.

"The second time, when I made eye contact with him, he was looking at me like he wanted to kill me," Dianne LaFleur told CBC News on Friday.

LaFleur was sitting in her parked car Wednesday evening, texting her mother, when a vehicle suddenly accelerated towards her, aiming at the driver's side door.

"I thought it was an accident until I looked at the guy and made eye contact with him as he was reversing. He just had hate, just pure hate in his eyes," she said. "He was looking at me like I was the devil."

After her car was rammed a third time, LaFleur's boyfriend ran outside to help. The man in the car started driving towards him, she said.

LaFleur said she slid over to the passenger side of her car, jumped out and grabbed her son from the backseat. She ran into the house.

She recalled the only thing the man said was: "My mom just gets mugged every night and you guys just sit and watch."

LaFleur said she had never talked to the man and had only ever seen him entering and leaving a house in the neighbourhood.

But now LaFleur said she can't sleep and had a nightmare about the incident the night after it happened. Her son wasn't hurt.

Suspect using drugs, police say

A 31-year-old man is facing three counts of attempted murder connected to the incident.

Det. Scott Nolt speaks to media Friday about the attack. (CBC) Police first became involved around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday when they were called to a family dispute between a mother and her adult son at a home near 121st Avenue and 87th Street.

Det. Scott Nolt said the son, who was living at the home temporarily, is suspected of using cocaine and methamphetamine. The son then left the home, fleeing in his mother's Nissan Maxima.

At around 7:30 p.m., he returned to the home, police say. That's when police believe he saw Lafleur and her son climbing into their car.​

Police say the accused accelerated toward them before ramming the car. The suspect reversed and accelerated repeatedly, hitting the family car at least three times, Nolt said.

The man then drove the Maxima directly at LaFleur's boyfriend, mounting the sidewalk. The boyfriend was able to jump out of the way and was unharmed, Nolt said.

The attack ended when the Maxima became disabled after hitting a tree, Nolt said. The family ran into their home for safety.

Police received several 911 calls during the attack, Nolt said. After police and paramedics arrived, the mother was treated on scene for non-life-threatening injuries.

Nolt said the family is getting help from the victim services unit to deal with the traumatic incident. The suspect was taken to hospital for a possible drug overdose, Nolt said.

The accused would not have known the family except by seeing them in the neighbourhood, Nolt said. "In my investigation there is absolutely no motivation or provocation for this incident."

Nolt said the man is well-known to police.

"He has a history with police," he said. "Police had attended that address before in relation to incidents regarding him."

Police have charged the suspect with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a weapon, three counts of dangerous driving, mischief and disqualified driving.