Update after a child was attacked in a shopping center

A woman has been taken into custody after an alleged unprovoked attack on a child her mother was holding in a Perth shopping centre.

Western Australia Police were alerted to a random incident at a shopping center in East Victoria Park around 1.25pm ​​on Tuesday.

It is believed that the woman approached the mother, who was holding the child, and then attacked the child and left the area.

Police confirmed that the woman did not know the mother of her child.

The young child suffered facial injuries but was not seriously injured in the incident.

Police stepped up their investigation on Wednesday with an urgent appeal to the public before announcing a 21-year-old woman had been taken into custody at Mirrabooka Shopping Center at 11.10am Perth time.

No further information was immediately available.

The incident follows another shocking attack on an innocent child earlier this year.

In August, nine-month-old baby Luca was shot and killed by a stranger while on a picnic with his mother in a Brisbane park.

Police say the man approached the boy and poured a thermos of hot coffee on him, burning his face and chest.

The 33-year-old man was identified by Chinese media after he allegedly left the country using his own passport the day before he was identified by Queensland police.

The boy suffered severe burns to 60 percent of his body and underwent four operations and may also need skin grafts.