A 14-year-old boy was stabbed at least seven times in the back after being deliberately knocked off his moped as London suffered another murder in 2019.
Police are investigating whether the street killing in Waltham Forest, north-east London, during rush hour last night was motivated by a row between rival gangs.
Officers were called to Bickley Road shortly before 6.30pm yesterday following reports of a road crash between a moped rider and a car and found the teenager stabbed in the road.
It is believed that three men got out of the car and knifed the victim before returning to their vehicle and speeding off.
The murder is London’s fourth so far in 2019 and comes after 12 months of bloodshed in the capital where 134 homicides in the capital.
Officers were called to Bickley Road, Leyton, in Waltham Forest shortly before 6.30pm on Tuesday to reports of a road traffic collision (pictured: Forensic investigators at the scene)
Police said they believe the 14-year-old boy had been involved in a crash with a car before he was stabbed to death by three men inside (pictured: Forensic investigators)
Police said that the boy was riding a moped that collided with a car, and it is believed that three males got out of the car and stabbed the victim before returning to their vehicle and driving away. Pictured are forensic investigators at the scene yesterday evening
The scene in Leyton, Waltham Forest in north-east London where a 14-year-old boy died. Police said last night that the youngster had been riding a moped when he was involved in a collision with a car
On Saturday Sarah Ashraf, 35, was found dead in a flat on the Isle of Dogs and her brother Khalid, 32, has been charged with her murder.
Charlotte Huggins, 33, became the first murder victim in the capital this year and died from a single stab wound in a house in Camberwell at 4.50am on New Year’s Day.
Half an hour later bouncer Tudor Simionov, 33, was stabbed to death outside a VIP ‘sex party’ in Park Lane.
Darren Pencille, 35, is accused of killing 51-year-old Lee Pomeroy in front of his 14-year-old son on a London-bound train as it passed through Surrey on Friday.
The Waltham Forest murder has shocked the local community.
Paramedics made a desperate attempt to save the teenager but he died soon after they arrived.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Despite efforts of paramedics, he was declared dead at 7.09pm. Next of kin have been informed.
‘A crime scene is in place. The homicide and major crime team has been informed. There have been no arrests. Enquiries continue.’
One man who did not want to be named described how a witness of the incident came into the premises where he works nearby, clearly horrified by what they had seen.
He said the witness told him how the teenager who was on the moped was struck by the car which was travelling in the opposite direction.
‘They said they knocked him off the moped and got out of the car and they stabbed him seven times – there were unsurvivable wounds in his back,’ he said.
Police were called out to Bickley Road (pictured at the scene yesterday evening), Waltham Forest, shortly before 6.30pm and arrived to discover a 14-year-old boy had received stab wounds
Paramedics made a desperate attempt to save the teenager but he died soon after they arrived. Emergency services remain at the scene on Tuesday evening
Police are on the scene (pictured) conducting forensic tests and a cordon is expected to remain in place for some time. Officers had at first been sent to reports of a road traffic collision, but upon arrival found a 14-year-old boy had been stabbed
He said the witness recalled how the boy was possibly unconscious when he was stabbed, with his helmet thrown up to 10 metres away.
The man added: ‘He thought it was an accident, that somebody had knocked someone, but then he said they quickly came [out of the car].
‘They beat him up, and they stabbed him, and they left.’
A worker at the nearby Raw Gym told Mailonline that he had seen a mobile phone video of the victim lying in the road.
‘It looked like he has been stabbed two or three times in the back’, he said.
‘This guy who comes into the gym sometimes had got it on his phone.
Charlotte Huggins (pictured) has been named as the first stab victim of 2019
Romanian Tudor (pictured with his girlfriend Madalina) died trying to stop gatecrashers from entering the private bash in Mayfair. The couple only came to the UK two months ago
Mr Pomeroy, who would have celebrated his 52nd birthday on Saturday, was with his son (pictured together) on a trip to London when he was knifed
‘I saw on the phone that the police were trying to help the kid and he had been stabbed in the back. The wounds were very big.’
He said he understood the victim had been knocked from his moped by a car and then attacked.
Another local said there had been trouble between local gangs, mainly the ‘Beaumont Crew’ and their ‘OC’ (Oliver Close) rivals.
‘They fight regularly. There’s loads of knives being carried around. It ain’t safe to be walking around here at night either.’
Residents who live on Bickley Road said they did not hear any shouting or screaming.
They said it was not until they saw the blue flashing lights from the emergency services that they knew something had happened.
Police are in the early stages of the investigation with forensic teams at the scene, but are likely to consider whether gang rivalry might have played a part in the murder.
Stella Creasy, who has been MP for the London constituency of Walthamstow since the 2010 general election, tweeted her condolences this evening.
She said: ‘Walthamstow devastated to report a young boy – just 14 – has lost his life in our community tonight. This terrible event on Bickley Road has only just been confirmed.
‘At moment that is all the info I have – anyone with evidence or info on tonight’s incident please do call 101.’
Then later this evening, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, tweeted to say: ‘I’m greatly saddened by news of the fatal stabbing of a 14 year old in Waltham Forest, and my thoughts are with his family and friends.
‘I encourage anyone with information about this horrific incident to contact the Police on 101 or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800555111.’
The shock incident took place on Bickley Road (pictured), Waltham Forest, shortly before 6.30pm yesterday evening
Stella Creasy, who has been MP for the London constituency of Walthamstow since the 2010 general election, tweeted her condolences yesterday evening
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, tweeted this evening to say: ‘I’m greatly saddened by news of the fatal stabbing of a 14 year old in Waltham Forest, and my thoughts are with his family and friends’
The shock incident comes just days after an 18-year-old man was found with stab wounds at Blackhorse Road station in Walthamstow.
He was rushed to hospital following the incident on Sunday where his condition was said to be ‘serious’.
Scotland Yard released figures in December showing the number of people killed in the capital hit a ten-year high in 2018, with more than a fifth of victims being children and teenagers.
Last year, 134 killings were recorded by the Metropolitan Police, which included 24 in which the victims were 19 or under. Of those, 18 were stabbed, five were shot and one woman died from head injuries.
It was the highest total since 2008, when 155 were killed.
This map shows where the murders across London have happened over the past year
The homicides recorded in London boroughs over the past 12 months show high murder levels in Greenwich and Southwark – along with Haringey (Press Association calculation as of Dec 15)