A 15-year-old boy has been stabbed to death at a shopping centre, with murder police hunting for the knifeman.
Emergency services rushed to New Square in West Bromwich town centre after the teenager was attacked at around 9.15pm yesterday.
The teenager, who has not been named, sadly died at the scene just off New Street despite the efforts of paramedics.
West Midlands Police has launched a murder investigation and urged any witnesses or anyone with information to get in touch with the force.
A blue forensics tent could be seen erected in the area, near to an Odeon cinema, Costa Coffee and a now-closed Harvester pub.
New Square shopping centre confirmed it remained ‘fully closed’ today following the schoolboy’s murder.
The shopping centre said on its Facebook page: ‘An incident took place last night at New Square.
‘Due to this, the shopping centre is currently fully closed.
‘We are now assisting West Midlands Police in their investigations and will give further updates, once we are able, regarding the reopening of the centre.
‘Thank you to all our customers for their patience and cooperation.’
Detective Chief Inspector Laura Harrison said: ‘It is a tragedy that yet another young life has been lost as a result knife crime.
A 15-year-old boy has been stabbed to death at a shopping centre, with murder police hunting for the knifeman. Emergency services rushed to New Square (pictured, this morning) in West Bromwich town centre after the teenager was attacked at around 9.15pm yesterday
‘Our immediate thoughts are with the victim’s family and friends.
‘We’re at the early stages of our enquiries but we have detectives working hard to identify those responsible and bring them into custody as soon as possible.
‘There are several lines of enquiry that we will be following, but we also need people to come forward with information.
‘We’ll be increasing patrols and offering reassurance to the community over the coming days.’
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called to reports of a stabbing at New Square at 9.13pm, two ambulances, two paramedic officer, a MERIT trauma doctor with a critical care paramedic and the Midlands Air Ambulance Critical Care Car attended the scene.
‘On arrival we discovered one patient, a teenage male, who was in a critical condition.
‘Ambulance staff immediately began administering advanced life support but sadly, it became apparent nothing could be done to save the patient and he was confirmed dead at the scene.’
The £200million New Square development opened in 2013 covering 473,000 square feet and includes shops, bars, restaurants, a cinema and other leisure facilities.
In 2021, two police officers were stabbed and slashed at the shopping centre by knife-wielding brothers Parminder and Maninder Hunjan, who were later jailed.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via Live Chat or 101, quoting log 3772 of April 7 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.