SUDBURY, Ont. -- Police are crediting two bystanders with saving the lives of a 35-year-old woman and her nine-month-old baby during a random knife attack outside a craft store in Greater Sudbury, Ont.

A spokeswoman for Greater Sudbury Police said the incident Monday afternoon left the woman in critical condition with a stab wound to her neck and sent the nine-month-old to hospital with multiple bruises.

"This was a horrific and vicious attack," Katilyn Dunn said, noting that the accused did not know his alleged victims.

A man who had been shopping ran outside when he heard a woman screaming, Dunn said. The bystander was able to wrestle the knife out of the attacker's hand and hold him down until officers arrived on the scene.

Meanwhile, she said, a 41-year-old woman applied pressure to the victim's wound until paramedics could get there.

"Their selfless acts ultimately saved the lives of these individuals," Dunn said.

A 25-year-old man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and weapons offences, along with breach of probation.

Police said in a news release that the accused needed hospital treatment for self-inflicted wounds.

Dunn indicated the accused was previously known to police.