A teenage boy stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death ‘with a machete after an argument that began with him trying to give her flowers’ on a bus to her £16,000-a-year private school in Croydon.
Met Police officers rushed to Wellesley Road outside the Whitgift shopping centre at around 8.30am and swarmed a 60 route red London bus.
London Ambulance paramedics battled to save the 15-year-old’s life but she was pronounced dead at the scene 50 minutes later at 9.21am.
An eyewitness, who would only give her name as Apple, claimed she saw a young boy and girl arguing as the girl said she ‘didn’t want to go out with him anymore’.
Apple said: ‘She then said something which made him flip, he became very violent and pulled out a long knife, like a sword or machete, and stabbed her.’
Chevanice Thomas, whose friend claims to have witnessed the stabbing, said the girl had rejected flowers from the boy, who she had broken up with the day before, moments before he stabbed her with a knife ‘like a sword’.
Officers from Scotland Yard and British Transport Police tracked down a teenage boy in connection with the stabbing. He was arrested at around 9.45am in the Croydon area.
A teenage boy stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death ‘with a machete after an argument that began with him trying to give her flowers’ on a bus to her £16,000-a-year private school in Croydon
Chevanice Thomas, whose friend claims to have witnessed the stabbing, said the girl had rejected flowers from the boy, who she had broken up with the day before, moments before he stabbed her with a knife ‘like a sword’ (Pictured is forensics at the scene)
Police forensics officers gather evidence near a bus in central Croydon, South London after a teenage girl was stabbed to death
A police car at the scene of where a teenage girl was stabbed to death after a boy ‘tried to giver her flowers’. A bouquet of roses can be seen beside a tent
A police evidence tent has been erected near a bus in central Croydon after a teenage girl was stabbed to death
Privacy screens and a tent can be seen outside the Whitgift centre in Croydon while a bus sits beside the pavement nearby
Police Forensic officers at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Croydon, South London this morning
A bouquet of roses was seen on the ground at the scene – after witnesses claimed the boy had tried to give the girl flowers
The school the victim is believed to have gone to is the Old Palace of John Whitgift School – a private school which costs parents of Year 11 pupils £16,579 a year.
Transport for London has confirmed the stabbing did not take place on the bus.
Witnesses to the attack described the scene of horror the moment the knifing occurred.
Apple said: ‘There were about seven or eight children who got off a bus which stopped outside the Whitgift Centre.
‘There was a young girl and young boy arguing. He had flowers with him and they were arguing about the girl breaking up with him yesterday.’
Apple said that after the boy became violent and stabbed the girl, she ‘had to look away as there was a lot of blood pouring from her neck’.
Ms Thomas, 28, who works on the nearby Landsdown Building site, said her friend saw a group of schoolchildren and adults running from the scene immediately after the stabbing at around 8.30am this morning.
She said: ‘Apparently she [the victim] broke up with her boyfriend yesterday. My friend said there was people with their children running everywhere.
‘The only person who stayed was the bus driver. A lot of people got out their vehicles and started running.
‘My friend said they were off the bus, talking, the boy and the girl. The boy gave her flowers, but she didn’t want anything to do with him.
‘Then he got violent and stabbed her. My friend said the knife was like a sword.’
On eyewitness on board the 60 bus to Streatham station told The Sun that the girl was ‘wearing a green school uniform’.
‘When it happened everybody ran off the bus,’ she said.
A white tent has been erected within a police cordon where a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death during rush hour in Croydon.
A red number 60 bus is also within the cordon, along with three police vehicles and about a dozen officers outside the Whitgift Centre.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Greatest Hits Radio London: ‘My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family of the 15-year-old child who has been stabbed in Croydon.
‘I’ve been in touch with the commissioner [Sir Mark Rowley] and we are in touch with the police.
‘It’s heart-breaking. An arrest has been made of another teenager in relation to this matter.
‘There were other people present and I’d encourage them to contact the police. If they are worried about the anonymity they can ring Crimestoppers.
‘It’s really important people come forward and support the police to make sure justice occurs for this poor girl’s family.’
Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain said: ‘Our immediate thoughts are with this young girl’s family who are facing the most tragic of news. Our officers are with the girl’s family to support them.
‘I am in contact with the local community, who are clearly as concerned as we are about this tragic incident. I shall continue to update them throughout the day.
‘My officers were immediately on scene to provide first aid and support paramedics.
‘A crime scene will be in place for some time, and I am grateful for the cooperation of residents.’
London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote on X: ‘ I am absolutely heartbroken by the death of a 15-year-old girl in Croydon this morning.
‘My thoughts and prayers are with this young girl’s family and friends and the whole community, at this unimaginably awful time.’
Video and pictures emerged on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, of a huge police presence, while two white privacy screens surround the scene.
A number of Scotland Yard officers can be seen standing behind a cordon, with one holding up a towel while a paramedic carrying a medic bag crouches to the ground.
Beldine Kutima, a receptionist at a nearby four-star hotel, told the Standard: ‘One of our duty managers went to get the bus but she came back in total shock and was heavily crying.
‘She ran back screaming and grabbed towels from the back room and ran back out there.’
Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, released a statement on X.
He said: ‘I am devastated to hear that the teenage girl who was stabbed in the town centre this morning has tragically died.
‘The Council are in touch with the police and will fully support their investigations. Our whole community’s thoughts are with the victim’s family and friends.
‘A suspect, who is believed to have known the victim, has been arrested, and I would like to thank all those who responded so quickly to the incident.
The location of the stabbing is shown in the map above. The 60 route bus was heading towards Streatham station
A forensic investigator on a bus at the scene near the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, south London after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death on Wednesday morning
Police and forensic investigators at the scene near the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon, south London after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death
Police and forensic investigators at the scene near the scene outside Whitgift shopping centre
A forensic investigator takes photos of inside a bus where a girl was stabbed to death this morning
‘I urge anyone with information to contact the police on 101 or report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.’
Croydon South MP and Minister for Policing Chris Philp said news of the girl’s death was ‘devastating’.
He said: ‘Our hearts go out to her family who must be in deep shock at their terrible loss. Nothing can be worse for a parent than losing a child.’
An estate agent who works near the scene where a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death in Croydon has said the town has ‘gone to the dogs’.
Leigh Thomas, 41, said: ‘I came out of my office and there were two ambulances right across the road and about 12 police cars.’
He added: ‘Croydon has gone to the dogs recently. The other side of the shopping centre is a war zone.
‘There’s drug dealing, fights, there was another stabbing recently. I grew up around here, it’s not what it used to be.’
A huge police presence is in place while buses have been diverted because of the incident
Met Police cars can be seen surrounding a 60 route London red bus in Wellesley Road, in Croydon, near the Whitgift shopping centre
Scotland Yard has confirmed a 15-year-old schoolgirl has died after being stabbed. An arrest has been made and police believe he may have known her
A number of police officers and paramedics were called to the scene while the area has been taped off
Home Office minister Chris Philp posted on X: ‘Devastating news that a 15-year-old girl was fatally stabbed in Croydon town centre and died soon afterwards on the scene, despite the best efforts of the emergency services.
‘Our hearts go out to her family who must be in deep shock at their terrible loss.
‘Nothing can be worse for a parent than losing a child.
‘An arrest was made shortly afterwards of a teenager believed to be known to the victim.
‘We must redouble our efforts to take all knives off the streets of London, using every means available.’
She was the sixteenth teenager to be murdered in the capital this year, 13 of whom were stabbed. A total of 14 teenagers were murdered in the capital in 2022. A post-war record of 30 teenagers were murdered in the capital in 2021.
A London 60 route red bus can also be seen in one picture, surrounded by police cars, with officers standing nearby.
Transport for London (TfL) has diverted its 60, 407, and 455 routes due to the incident.
Wellesley Road has been closed northbound from Whitgift Centre to St Michael’s Road.
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