An 18 year old law student has been stabbed to death in East London while protecting his mother from thugs trying to steal designer jackets from their home-run business.
Hussain Chaudhry suffered a wound to his neck outside his home in Walthamstow yesterday.
He was pronounced dead at the scene and his mother and brother were also found with slash wounds to their hands. Their conditions are described by police as non-life threatening.
The Met said detectives have launched a murder investigation but so far there have been no arrests.
Witnesses said the boy was stabbed in the neck by an attacker posing as a customer who then fled the scene.
According to the Evening Standard, his uncle Reiss Chaudhry said: “He died protecting his mother from the robbers. He died in her lap. He was studying law at SOAS. He was a great boy. His mother is in surgery – her hand has been severely cut. We are all devastated.”
Police said they were called at approximately 17:20hrs on Wednesday to reports of a stabbing. Officers attended along with the London Ambulance Service.
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Detective Chief Inspector Perry Benton, from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “A young man has lost his life in tragic circumstances and my thoughts are with his family and friends at this awful time.
“The attack happened on a busy road during rush-hour and I know there would have been lots of vehicles passing at the time of the incident. I would ask anybody who was driving in the area to check their dash cams and local residents to review the footage on their doorbell cameras as these could hold vital information about what happened.”
Additional officers will be in the area over the coming days to help reassure the community and listen to concerns from residents.
Detective Superintendent Paul Whiteman, from the team responsible for local policing in Waltham Forest, said: “We remain committed to tackling violent crime and we are working with a number of partners to help us prevent another tragic loss of life.
“You will see extra officers in the area this week and they will be using a range of tactics to target those who choose to put other’s in danger by carrying a knife. We rely on the support of the local community and I would ask anybody with concerns to contact us on 101 or to report information anonymously to Crimestoppers.”
Anybody with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 1570 or 101 and quote CAD5697/17MAR. Information can also be tweeted to @MetCC.
Information can also be provided, anonymously, by calling the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
