FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — It is the talk of this tight-knit Federal Way neighborhood: A woman was stabbed on her front porch on Halloween night when she offered a teenage boy some trick-or-treat candy.

"I'm afraid and I would like to know more," said May Boyakins, who has lived across the street for 25 years.

She was home when a swarm of patrol cars surrounded the woman's house about 9 p.m.

"The police made us go back in because they said there was a stabbing," she said. "A woman got stabbed."

The woman who lives next door to the victim says she sent a text to her husband just before picking up their daughter.

"It was 8:52 when I texted him," said Blanch Fernandez, a 26-year resident. "And I got back at 9:08.

And all this activity was going like in 16 minutes.

I go, 'If I'd pulled out three or four minutes later, I might have just seen it happen.'"

The victim told Federal Way police she had given out candy to a handful of trick-or-treaters.

"He came to the door," Federal Way Police Cmdr. Stan McCall said. "She offered him candy and he produced a knife and he stabbed her."

Late Tuesday, detectives were canvassing the neighborhood for clues.

"Certainly don't know any motive," McCall said. "Or that the victim was targeted. We don't have any information like that."

"Random then?" he was asked.

"It certainly looks that way," McCall said.

"No reason to suspect that someone would have picked her, her house to attack her?"

"No, no indications at all," he replied.

"If it's random," Boyakins said, "we need to know (to) keep our doors locked, get more cameras."

The stabbing victim was taken to the hospital.

She is expected to survive.

She gave only a vague description of her attacker: 14-16 years old.

Police say they hope she'll be able to help them create a sketch.

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