After a 15-year-old girl was fatally stabbed on her way to school on Wednesday, London police said that they had detained a youngster, igniting new concerns about the severity of knife crime in the UK.
Around 8.30 am (0730 GMT), emergency personnel, including an air ambulance, were summoned to the site in Croydon, south London, in response to reports of a stabbing incident.

Despite paramedics’ best efforts, the girl was declared dead at the scene 50 minutes later, according to the cops, who also reported that a 17-year-old boy was later taken into custody.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, expressed his “heartbreak” over the tragic incident and vowed to “keep working day and night to end the scourge of knife crime in our city.”

In the year ending in March 2023, 99 persons under the age of 25 were fatally injured in England and Wales by knives or other sharp objects, according to government statistics. 13 of them were minors, under the age of 16.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, there were 50,000 stabbing attacks in the year ending in March 2023, up 5% from the previous year and 75% from ten years prior.

Detectives were questioning the suspect who was in custody, according to the police.

“Our first thoughts are with the family of this young girl, who has just received the most terrible news. The girl’s family is being supported by our officers, according to Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain of the Metropolitan Police.

A boy wearing a school blazer allegedly stabbed the girl in the neck with a knife that was “black, thin, and about a foot (30 centimeters) long,” according to Victor Azare, a 50-year-old security guard on his way home from a night job.

Many others attempted to save the girl as we sought to apprehend him. “I was so astonished that I felt unsteady,” the guard said. He told British media that it was someone’s daughter.

According to media reports, the girl had just gotten off a bus and appeared to be having a disagreement with a boy when he attacked her.

The child attended Old Palace of John Whitgift School, a private girls’ school in Croydon; her name has not yet been revealed.

The school released a statement saying, “We are deeply shocked by the senseless and tragic death of our much-loved and valued friend and pupil.”

The Old Palace neighbourhood will need some time to adjust to this dreadful news.

The statement said, “Above all, we express our sympathy and our condolences to the girl’s family at this incredibly trying time.