SYDNEY, June 4 (Xinhua) -- An elderly couple have been hospitalized with life-threatening stab wounds and their attacker has been treated for a gunshot wound following a home invasion in eastern Australia.

The police force in the state of New South Wales said that emergency services were called to a rural property about 500 km north of Sydney after a 75-year-old man and his 72-year-old wife were stabbed by a man who forced entry into their home around 12:15 a.m. on Thursday.

Following the initial attack, police said that the attacker, a 34-year-old man, left the house before he was shot by the 75-year-old man while attempting to re-enter the property.

He was taken to the hospital under police guard in a serious but stable condition and charged with two counts of causing wounding or grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder. ■