PALATKA, Fla. -- An 8-year-old boy was stabbed to death and a police officer was stabbed in the face during an attack at an apartment complex in Palatka on Tuesday evening.

At about 7 p.m., police responded to the College Arms Apartments in the 2300 block of Husson Avenue in reference to a child being stabbed.

"When they arrived, they found the young man in the house and began to search for a suspect," said Palatka Police Department Cmdr. Reno Fells.

The child, Dayquone Hill, had been stabbed multiple times, according police. As emergency personnel attended to the child, officers began looking for witnesses and possible suspects.

Police said officer Todd Bryant of the Palatka Police Department was in the parking lot area assisting in getting the injured boy to an ambulance and looking for witnesses and suspects when he was approached by a man.

The man, who was later identified as 22-year-old Zachariah Williams and the man who stabbed the 8-year-old, struck the officer in the face while holding a pair of scissors. The scissors stabbed Bryant through the cheek, police said.

Another officer used his Taser gun on Williams and was able to take him into custody.

"(Williams) is one of our regulars," Fells said.

The child was rushed to Putnam Community Hospital, where he died.

Witnesses told Channel 4 the boy's mother saw the attack. Police said the woman had to be taken to the emergency room because she was having chest pains.

The officer stabbed was also taken to the hospital. Officers said he is expected to make a full recovery.

Williams was arrested on charges of murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on a police officer. He was booked into the Putnam County Jail without bond.

The relationship, if any, between Williams and Hill was not immediately known.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was at the scene conducting its investigation.