Updated June 03, 2018 00:44:53

A 20-year-old man has been charged with one count of murder and two counts of wound with intent to murder after a rampage in Bega.

The man allegedly attacked his grandparents in their East Street home with a knife on Friday afternoon.

At about 3:35pm on Friday a passing motorist was flagged down by a 71-year-old man, who had been stabbed at his home in East Street, Bega.

When emergency services arrived, they found the man and his 69-year-old wife critically injured.

Road blocks were put in place and an extensive search began after the stabbing, and South Coast police officers were soon in a car chase with a 20-year-old man, who was driving the couple's car.

His 69-year-old grandmother died in hospital after the attack, while his 71-year-old grandfather is in a critical condition at Canberra Hospital.

A local, Bob Russell, said he and wife Judy arrived on the scene after the fact and saw the man lying on the footpath with "blood everywhere".

Photo: Bob Russell arrived on the scene to see the bloody aftermath of the stabbing. (ABC News: Daniel Doody)

"Normally it's a pretty quiet place," he said.

"We're only normally on the map for the Bega cheese, not for all the bad things."

Bega woman Rebecca Lupton said she did not know what to tell her daughter.

"We have been trying to think of what to tell her about why there is a policeman outside our house," she said.

"Spun her a yarn this morning about someone getting hurt but not saying that there was somebody else responsible.

"She's five, and you don't want to make her afraid of coming outside."

Ms Lupton added that they normally did not lock their doors, which Mr Russell echoed.

An hour after emergency services became aware of the initial incident, a 55-year-old man was allegedly hit in the head with a hammer by the same 20-year-old man during a carjacking on Sapphire Coast Drive in Bournda, 20 kilometres south of the initial attack.

The 55-year-old is also in a critical condition in St George Hospital in Sydney.

The alleged assailant has been refused bail and is expected at Batemans Bay Local court on Sunday.

Topics: crime, death, bega-2550, bournda-2550, nsw, australia

First posted June 03, 2018 00:40:57