Overview
- Police say a large disorder began at a house party on Towpath Walk and escalated into violence on Monday, 25 May, resulting in a teenage boy being fatally stabbed in nearby Poplar Close.
- Multiple callers reported people armed with machetes and possible gunfire, and bystander videos circulating online show people brandishing large knives and an alleged firearm.
- Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance attended the scene where the boy was found with stab wounds and pronounced dead despite emergency treatment.
- A murder investigation is under way with a wide crime-scene cordon and a forensic tent in place as detectives work to formally identify the victim and inform next of kin; no arrests have been publicly confirmed.
- Detectives have urged anyone with footage or eyewitness information to send it directly to police and increased patrols are in place as local residents express deep concern about recurring unsanctioned youth gatherings.