Lawrence Police Sgt. Trent McKinley, right, talks with an officer on scene at the Super 8, 515 McDonald Drive, on June 24, 2015, after a stabbing victim was found just inside the building's front doors.

A 46-year-old Shawnee man was arrested Wednesday evening on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder after a motel worker was stabbed multiple times earlier in the day.

Lawrence police opened an investigation Wednesday after an officer responding to a disturbance at Super 8, 515 McDonald Drive, found a woman with multiple stab wounds in her abdomen just inside the building’s front doors, Lawrence Police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley said.

Dispatchers received a report about 1 p.m. of a disturbance at Super 8 with possible “screaming or confusion in the background” of the call, McKinley said. Upon arrival, a police officer found a middle-aged woman and man just inside the motel lobby. Officers later determined the incident began as a domestic dispute, McKinley said.

The woman, an employee at the motel, was taken by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. She was awaiting surgery Wednesday evening, McKinley said.

Officers later arrested Navinkumar Patel, of Shawnee, also employed at the motel, on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, McKinley said. Patel was booked into the Douglas County Jail Wednesday evening.