Crime reporter,London(wp/es):
A teenage boy was stabbed to death on a doorstep by two knife-wielding thugs who sped away on a moped.
The 18-year-old died after being stabbed in the back in a suspected gang-linked “hit”.
Officers were called to a disturbance in Armitage Street in Greenwich at 9.25pm last night and found the teenager collapsed outside a housing block . Local residents and paramedics fought to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene just after 10pm.
The incident is the 20th teenage murder inquiry begun in London this year, while more than 110 people have been murdered in total in the capital in 2018.
Witnesses reported a commotion outside a block of flats just before 9.30pm. One witness said: “There were two guys on a scooter. The stabbed boy was on the ground. They sped off. It was all very quick and it was clearly a hit.
“We tried to talk to the guy on the ground but he had gone. We tried to get him back, to reach him, but there’s nothing we could do. I couldn’t see any blood, but apparently he was stabbed in the back. It was dark and I couldn’t see the faces of the guys on the scooter. I didn’t recognise the victim.”
Another witness said: “There was a massive commotion and a bike revving. We looked out and the boy was lying on the ground. We checked for a pulse but he was dead. We were in total shock.”
A crime scene tent remained in place today outside the front door of a flat, with bloody clothing strewn inside. Police cordons also surrounded the street as forensic experts searched the scene for clues.
The killing took place half a mile from the Greenwich Maritime Museum.
Locals said there had been a flurry of gang-related activity in recent months. One said: “There have been a lot of boys on scooters and a tense atmosphere. We just keep our head down.”
Two other teenagers were also hurt in knife attacks in London last night. An 18-year-old was stabbed in Grosvenor Avenue, Islington, at 10.50pm, and a 19-year-old walked into hospital at 9.18pm with a stab injury to his leg after an attack in Greenleaf Road, Walthamstow.
Knife crime in London has risen to a record level, with nearly 15,000 offences committed in the 12 months to June, a 15 per cent rise on the year before. This year there have been 69 knife killings, with 12 of the victims teenagers.
There have been no arrests in connection with the Greenwich attack.
Anyone with information should call police on 101 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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