"About 12.15pm on Sunday, a 49-year-old male [employee] received a superficial wound to his face near his right eye," Oxley Detective Acting Inspector Jason Darcy told The Northern Daily Leader.
"The male has then left the scene."
The Northern Daily Leader goes on to report that ambulance paramedics rushed to the scene and treated the store employee at the scene before taking him to Tamworth hospital for treatment.
Suey was arrested a short time later and appeared in Tamworth Local Court late yesterday after spending the night in custody. The Northern Daily Leader reports that he plead guilty to shoplifting but not guilty to reckless wounding.
Magistrate Roger Prowse ordered the accused be taken to hospital for a mental health assessment. He will return to court at a later date.