Murdered at Boxing Day sales: Teenager stabbed on Oxford Street and ANOTHER knifed in separate attack as horrified shoppers look on

By CHRIS GREENWOOD and CLAIRE ELLICOTT


Losing battle for survival: With crowds behind crush barriers, paramedics treat the stabbed youth

The biggest sales rush in British history was marked by bloodshed yesterday as a teenager was murdered in a suspected row over a pair of trainers.
Bargain hunters looked on in horror as the 18-year-old was stabbed in a branch of Foot Locker on Oxford Street in central London.
Witnesses said the teenager was amongst a group of black youths, thought to be rival gangs, fighting over the trainers.
He managed to stagger outside bleeding heavily before collapsing on the street.

Fatal stabbing: The scene outside Foot Locker on Oxford Street where the man was stabbed to death

Emotions running high: Police officers block a member of the victim's family from getting too close to the scene

Murder weapon? A lock knife found at the scene of the stabbing

Cordon: Police tape keeps shoppers at bay as police investigate the stabbing

Probe: Forensic officers in white boiler suits work on the scene as the investigation gets underway

Videos posted on the internet showed that as paramedics treated him other youths pushed and shoved police in scenes reminiscent of the summer riots.
Hours after the murder, police rushed to a second incident near Oxford Circus Tube station – 700 yards from Foot Locker – where a young man had been stabbed in the leg. At the scene were a bloodied pair of jeans and a pair of Nike trainers.
Police were investigating whether there was any link between the two stabbings.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dunne, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: ‘This is probably the busiest place in the United Kingdom right now on the busiest shopping day.’
The crimes brought a large area thronged by tens of thousands of shoppers to a standstill and closed many stores.

Crowd control: In this video image, police are seen keeping crowds back while paramedics try to revive the stabbing victim

Pressure point: A policeman fends off one member of the public while onlookers film the scene

He was believed to be a Somali whose first name is Seydou, from Tooting, South London. He is known by the street name ‘Nutz’.
Paramedics raced to the scene as dozens of police officers, including armed officers and dog handlers, also arrived.
Many had to abandon their vehicles and run to the store as the crowds of shoppers were so dense that they could not get through.
A three-inch silver lock knife, which could have been the murder weapon, was discovered abandoned nearby. Other knives were also found.



Crime scene: The body of the young victim is seen under a cover as officers stand over him

It is understood that the murder was captured by several CCTV cameras. Eleven young men were arrested in and around the store within minutes.
One witness said the killing might be linked to an attack in which a 22-year-old man was shot twice in the chest five days ago. That victim continues to fight for his life in hospital after the attack on the Mozart Estate, in Queen’s Park, North West London.

Gathering information: Police talk to a man outside the Foot Locker store

Investigation: Part of the road was cordoned off on one of the busiest shopping days of the year after the stabbing

Arrests: Eleven people were held following the stabbing. In the background the huge crowds of shoppers can be seen as part of Oxford Street lies deserted

Murder probe: The store is right next to the Bond Street underground station. Here police have cordoned off the scene while an investigation is launched

‘The flipside of that is we have probably more witnesses than we would normally have and I’m very much looking forward to them coming and speaking to us.’
Inspector Bruce Middlemiss, of Westminster Police, said three suspects in yesterday’s second stabbing had run off along Regent Street. Asked if the two incidents were linked, he said: ‘There’s nothing firm, however they are similar sort of circumstances, youths possibly from the same south London area.’

Busy shopping day: Eager shoppers queue outside Selfridges yesterday morning on Oxford Street. Hours later a man was knifed to death

Crowds: The incident took place on Oxford Street, which yesterday was overflowing with shoppers at the Boxing Day sales

source: dailymail