A man has been arrested in Victoria, Australia, nearly four days after allegedly attacking his elderly parents and brother with an axe at the family home in Tyers, a small town in the Gippsland region. Peter O'Ryan, 48, was taken into custody on Tuesday night after police responded to reports of a man loitering suspiciously near the scene of the attack, prompting an extensive multi-day search operation involving public appeals for information.

Police allege the attack occurred on Saturday just after midday following an argument, with O'Ryan first turning on his 47-year-old brother before assaulting his parents, Keith, 77, and Janine, 74. Both the father and brother were airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries and remain in critical condition after emergency surgery at the Alfred Hospital, while the mother is in stable condition after also sustaining critical injuries. A senior detective described it as some of the most serious family violence offending he had encountered, and O'Ryan is now expected to be interviewed by police in relation to the incident.