A group of up to four men allegedly leapt from a car to stab a boy with a zombie-style knife before leaving him as he screamed: ‘I am 15, please don’t let me die.’
Police said the boy’s murder was a ‘stark and sobering reminder of the danger of zombie-style knives’ as a ban on possessing the weapons comes into force today.
The teenager – named by friends as Daejaun – was set upon by the men in Woolwich, South East London, at 6.30pm on Sunday, before a neighbour tried to save his life.
The 43-year-old mother told how the boy begged for help as she battled to stem the bleeding. She said: ‘The neighbours were all screaming.
‘I grabbed a sheet that I had just hung up and ran out to him. I could see him lying on the floor.
‘He was saying, ‘I am 15, please don’t let me die’. He had a slash across his forehead and an injury on his head, but there was so much blood.
The number of crimes involving machetes, swords or zombie knives has nearly doubled in five years, police figures suggest.
Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in 2023 the three types of weapons were mentioned in more than 14,000 crimes recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales.
In 2019, there were 7,159 offences recorded as involving the large blades, which rose to 14,195 in 2023.
Nearly 10,000 of the offences recorded in 2023 involved machetes, double the number from five years before, the broadcaster reported.
Today, a ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes came into force, following a four-week amnesty scheme where owners were encouraged to hand the weapons into police, local authorities or knife crime charities.
The ban is part of efforts to reduce knife crime, with campaigners including actor Idris Elba pushing for the large blades to be outlawed.
The Government plans to also ban ninja swords in the future.
‘Then I saw his leg. They must have cut an artery, so I put pressure on it and kept him talking until the ambulance arrived.’
The woman, who did not want to be named, stepped back when paramedics arrived but they were unable to save him.
She said: ‘I was just trying to keep him alive. The paramedic said there was nothing more I could have done.’
She described the victim as a local boy she had seen only days earlier dancing in the same street to a TikTok video with friends.
‘He was polite as anything,’ she said. ‘The boys were all dancing, and now this has happened.’
Today, friends and well-wishers left flowers, candles and blue balloons saying ‘miss you’ on the street where he died.
A police cordon was lifted around the crime scene as youngsters created a shrine to the boy.
A steady stream of youngsters in school uniform visited the site to pay their respects, crying and hugging, as well as leaving bunches of flowers and lighting the candles.
One card on flowers left at the site said: ‘Daejaun, forever in our hearts.’
Another read: ‘I love you forever, I am so proud of you, live it up.’
Witnesses said the black teenager was set upon by a group of three or four attackers who jumped out of a car.
One local resident, who has lived in the area for 12 years, told the Mirror: ‘People reckon there was around three or four attackers and they jumped out of a car. It happens all the time around here.’
Another resident described the weapon as being as long as her teenage son’s leg.
One neighbour described how other teenagers witnessed the attack, saying: ‘My kid witnessed everything, he’s only 14 – I saw a white sheet put over the victim.
‘He shouldn’t be witnessing this. Half the kids here saw the knife covered in blood.’
Scotland Yard later confirmed the weapon used was a ‘zombie-style knife’. Police are now hunting for the killer on the run – and no arrests have yet been made.
Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, said: ‘Once again, we’ve had to tell a child’s family that their loved one has been killed in an act of violence using knives. Our thoughts are with them as they struggle to comprehend what has happened.
‘The fact a 15-year-old teenager who had his whole life ahead of him has been taken from his family in this way is a stark and sobering reminder of the danger of zombie-style knives.
‘We are committed to doing everything in our power to taking these weapons off the streets.’
Metropolitan Police figures show knife crime is 9.4 per cent higher in London this year compared to the year to August 2023.
Nationally the number of crimes involving machetes, swords or zombie knives has nearly doubled from 7,159 in 2019 to 14,195 in 2023.
Nearly 10,000 of the offences recorded in 2023 involved machetes, double the number from five years before.
Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: ‘We’re acutely conscious that bans and the legislation and enforcement is only one part of the equation, and we know that there’s a lot for us to do across the full range of our policing activities to deter young people from violence.
‘We’re not going to solve the problem of knife crime just by one aspect of it.’
A man who lived on Eglinton Road and did not wish to be named said he had heard a helicopter over his house on Sunday evening for around 20 minutes and that his 16-year-old son had been friends with the victim since primary school.
He said: ‘Around midnight, I was going to the bathroom, and my son was up.
‘He was meant to be sleeping but he was up and that’s when he said to me ‘dad, I just got some bad news’ and I was like ‘go to bed, you’ve got school tomorrow’ and he said, ‘No, one of my friends has been stabbed.’
‘I felt bad enough then and then he said ‘He’s dead’.’
He continued: ‘I’m glad it’s not (my son) obviously but it just fills you with worry as a parent, he’s a black kid, he’s about that age – trying to keep him away from gangs and all the rest of it.’
A police cordon and a tent were in place at the scene on Eglinton Road yesterday morning, along with more than a dozen officers wearing helmets and carrying protective shields.
Several police vans were also parked nearby while officers visited surrounding properties.
A spokesperson for London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: ‘The Mayor’s thoughts are with the family and friends of the teenage boy who has been killed in Woolwich, as well as the wider community.
‘This heartbreaking violence has no place in our streets. The mayor is in close contact with police leaders and there will be increased patrols in the local area.’
The ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes came into force today.
It is part of efforts to reduce knife crime, with campaigners including actor Idris Elba pushing for the large blades to be outlawed.
Anyone with information is asked to call police via 101 quoting reference CAD 5989/22Sep