SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man has been charged with attempted murder and child endangerment for trying to kill his estranged wife with two large butcher knives at their son’s flag football game on Friday. The couple’s nine-year-old son and an off-duty Garden Grove police officer intervened in the attack.

Russell Matthew Husges, 43, of Anaheim, has been charged with one felony count of attempted murder, one count of felony assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, one misdemeanor count of disobeying a domestic relations court order, and one misdemeanor count of child abuse and endangerment.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Husges is currently being held at the Orange County Jail.

The 40-year-old victim was watching the couple’s nine-year-old son play flag football on Friday, May 14, 2021, when her estranged husband is accused of charging across the field at her holding two large butcher knives.

Spectators, including an off-duty Garden Grove police officer and the victim’s nine-year-old son, intervened in the attack. The victim had been granted a family court order against her estranged husband a few weeks prior to the attack.

“No one should be subjected to violence for making the decision to leave a relationship and no child should have to intervene to stop one parent from attacking another,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “The act itself is horrific, but to attempt to carry out this kind of violence in front of innocent children and their parents is the stuff of nightmares.”

Deputy District Attorney Diana King of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.