Twelve year old boy stabbed mortally in Birmingham named as Leo Ross | British news

A 12-year-old boy who was mortally stabbed while going home from school in Birmingham has been named Leo Ross.

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder, where police confirm that he is also being held compared to an attack on an elderly woman two days earlier.

The West Midland police said Leo was found by a member of the public on Tuesday afternoon after being stabbed in the stomach and being taken to the hospital. He died of his injuries that night.

Diane Henson, the executive teacher of Christ Church C from E Secondary Academy, where Leo was a student, said he was “a lively and happy young man.

“He had many very good friends whom he absolutely loved and they loved him,” she said. “He was just a nice and bright member of the school community.

“We support the children in school and open a condolence book with the family’s permission.”

The incident happened around 1 p.m. 15.40 in a road through forest and under a railway line used as a shortcut by many children who go home from school. Residents say the area has been plagued by antisocial behavior in recent months.

The 14-year-old boy, who is in custody, is also suspected of assault on an 80-year-old woman in the same area on Sunday. Police said they held an “open mind” about whether there would be further arrests in relation to Leo’s death.

When he spoke at Police Cordon on Scrulrirers Lane in Hall Green, CHPT Richard North said: “This was obviously a very disturbing incident, absolutely traumatic to society, and I really understand people’s concerns.”

He said there had been many people nearby at the time of the incident, which happened shortly after nearby schools had ended for the day.

“It was a chaotic and absolutely traumatic scene. We support the witnesses through it. It was incredibly worrying about them, and like the officers and the paramedics who arrived, they did everything they could, ”he said.

Detectives do not believe that Leo knew his striker and investigates whether he was stabbed while trying to escape.

They are looking for murder weapons, and both Leo and the child arrested are believed to have lived close to the scene of the attack.

A member of Leo’s family described him as “the most beautiful, friendly child” and “the best child you would meet”.

In a statement made to the BBC, they said he was “funny, sweet and did not have an aggressive bone in his body” and had gone a 10-minute route home at the time.

A resident who asked not to be named, Leo said was a “very quiet child”.

“It’s a tragedy, it’s without words,” he said. “I saw Air ambulance land in the field behind our house, so we wonder what the hell was going on. Then we saw someone being brought out on a stretcher.

“It’s just terrible. A child went to school yesterday and the mother expected the child to go home. “

Allie Litherland, which has an award in the area close to where the stabbing was taking place, said she had heard of a recent incident where boys threw stones over the train tracks and a passer -by was almost injured and she had heard of an attack on An older woman.

“It seems to be these young boys,” she said. “It’s devastating. Anyone who gets hurt is devastating to hear, but it’s shocking when it’s people so young. “

When asked about the spread of knife crime and youth violence in Birmingham, North said: “On a day like today it is really hard to talk about the progress we have made about knife crime because it will always look weak towards it The fact of what has happened to this 12-year-old child.

“West Midlands has made a lot of progress, especially Birmingham, against youth violence and knife crime, but obviously in connection with today it is a difficult message to put a lot of weight on.”

Police hold an open mind about the motive, where one theory is a potential robbery, the other was death followed a random and seemingly unexplained act of violence.

The deadly stabbing happened on the day, as the MPs were told, after the Southport murder, that a ban on knife sales to under the 18s was not effective.

The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said Axel Rudakubana, had been “easily able to order a knife on Amazon” when he was 17 and had been convicted of a violent violation.

She said to MPs: “It’s a total shame and that needs to change. So we will bring stronger measures to tackle knife sales online in the crime and police expense this spring. “

The West Midland police have set up a major incident Public Portal (MIPP), where public members can present photos or video visions in relation to the stabbing Tuesday and has called on anyone with dashcam or mobile phone shooting to emerge.

They ask everyone with information to use mipp or call 101 with quoting log 3324 of January 21.