Qld police to charge man over stabbings

Detectives are preparing to charge a man over a stabbing rampage in Townsville that left two people injured and an 81-year-old woman dead.

The alleged 32-year-old attacker has been under police guard in hospital due to wounds self-inflicted during Tuesday night's rampage but is yet to be charged.

Police say they received about 15 calls for help from residents about a man who was damaging fences and cars in the street.

He was allegedly armed with a knife and fence paling and wandering the street naked when police arrived on the scene.

A 26-year-old woman, whom the attacker allegedly knew, and a 28-year-old man were also stabbed and police only learned of the elderly woman's death during a media conference on Wednesday.

Detective Inspector Kelly Harvey was speaking about the incident to the media on Wednesday morning when she was interrupted by cries of "she's dead" by an elderly man.

"Who?" Det Insp Harvey asked.

"My neighbour," the man replied.

The man had discovered the body of the 81-year-old when he decided to check on her because her newspaper hadn't been collected.

Police say the man is expected to be charged with multiple offences on Thursday but could not say if he would be charged with murder over the woman's death.