Fourteen people have been arrested by police after two stabbings on Oxford Street on Boxing Day.
The first incident occurred around 1.45pm near the Foot Locker store; the 18 year old victim died at the scene. A second stabbing occurred several hours later near Oxford Circus in which a 21 year old was attacked. Police have yet to confirm if the two incidents were linked.
This unedited footage from the scene is just astonishing - police officers repeatedly have to push back onlookers who are trying to crowd in as paramedics attempt to save the victim's life and at one point a taser can be heard. A cordon holds back thousands of people, many of whom can be seen also trying to film the scene on mobile phones. Oxford Street was probably one of the busiest places in London on Boxing Day, yet that doesn't seem to have prevented a fatal attack. According to the BBC report, police say there appeared to be two groups 'opposing each other' shortly before the incident.
Earlier this year, knife crime in London was reported to have increased and just last week five teenagers were convicted of the murder of a 15 year old schoolboy. The Met have recently run the 'Choose a different ending' campaign to discourage teenagers from carrying weapons.
The Oxford Street victim has not yet been named. The senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dunne said:
'A number of weapons have been recovered from the scene. Whether I've got the murder weapon I don't know. We have probably more witnesses than we would normally have and I'm very much looking forward to them coming and speaking to us.'
An incident room has opened at Lewisham police station. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information that may assist police should call the incident room on 020 8721 4906. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
