A 'baby-faced' teenager was beaten, chased, then savagely stabbed with a butcher's knife in front of terrified lunchtime shoppers in North London today, a witness claims. Met Police officers in Kilburn raced to their second knifing in as many days on Saturday afternoon (October 12) after reports of a bloody attack outside the Halifax bank on Kilburn High Road just before 1.45pm.
The latest violence came less than 24 hours after a man in his 40s was rushed to hospital after a stabbing at Templar House, near Kilburn Tube station. The force was called to the block of flats just after 7.30pm on Friday (October 11), where they found a man with stab wounds. He was taken to hospital, but Scotland Yard is yet to provide an update on his condition.
On Saturday afternoon, Rachel Hope, a 24-year-old service manager, was queuing for the number 16 bus when she looked to her right and saw two people on the floor 'fighting and screaming'. "In Kilburn that's the norm," she told MyLondon. "Until I got on the bus and saw the boy in his late teens/early 20s being chased by another boy carrying a long knife."
READ MORE: Kilburn 'stabbing' outside Halifax live updates as Met Police cordon off High Road
Rachel described the young men 'zig-zagging' through shoppers, with the victim trying to shove past people until he was caught. To her horror, she claims the knifeman caught up with his target then used one hand to grab his victim by the shoulder and turn him around, in his other hand gripping what Rachel described as a seven-inch butcher's knife.
Using an overhand motion, which Rachel said was comparable to the iconic shower stabbing scene in Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho, she claimed the knife man plunged down into the victim's collarbone and shoulder area. Meanwhile, she claimed she saw a man in his 50s join in the broad-daylight assault, chasing and grabbing at the victim.
Rachel said the victim, who she described as skinny, baby-faced, and with full lips, carried on running and fighting after the stab attack, then looked like he might be about to get on the bus. By now breathing heavily and starting to panic, Rachel said she cannot remember exactly what happened next, but the driver closed the doors and took his passengers away from the danger, she claims.
"When everyone saw it they started screaming and running," she remembered. "I did not see every aspect, but when the bus was about to go that's when I saw there was blood. The last thing I remember seeing was blood all over his nose. Then I ended up having a panic attack.
"I remember feeling like I could not breathe. I just remembered hearing people scream and fled. I felt for a second like I was going to faint."
'There's no fear anymore'
Rachel said the knifeman had fled the scene while she was looking away, but as she looked back she claims she saw the older man was grabbing onto the victim's clothes. "From the way I perceived it, it seemed like he was ganging up on him," she added.
Rachel said his knife was 'long', at around seven inches. "It was bigger than what I expected," she told us. After comparing it to images shared by MyLondon, Rachel confirmed she believed it was a butcher's knife.
Contrary to the Met Police statement issued on Saturday evening, Rachel, who was meters away from the fight, insisted the victim was not Black, but instead appeared white Eastern European. "There was not a Black person there," she said.
Reflecting on the sickening violence she witnessed, Rachel added: "It's just really sad. I would like to say something needs to be done. But this is the second stabbing in 24 hours. There's nothing much anyone can do. There's a lot of saying and not a lot of doing. For it to happen in broad daylight, there's no fear anymore."
This evening a Met Police spokesperson said officers are looking for a 'black male, aged in his teens or early 20s' after they were unable to locate the stab victim in Kilburn. "A man has been arrested on suspicion of affray. Enquiries continue. If you have information or material that could help police, please call 101 ref CAD 3802/12 Oct," they added.
Got a story or a tip off? Please email callum.cuddeford@reachplc.com or WhatsApp 07580255582
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