A police spokesman said officers were called to Poland Street in Soho at 11.40am. after reports of a stabbing. “Officers attended with the London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance,” the spokesman said. “A man was found with stab wounds. Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12.20pm. His identity has not yet been confirmed. A man was arrested for the incident.”
read more
Witnesses described how a man believed to be a restaurant worker was stabbed to death outside a restaurant in front of horrified tourists and shoppers. One witness said: “I saw the police arrive, it was flooded with police around here. I was told that two chefs or at least two restaurant guys got into a fight and one got stabbed.” Another said: “Sniffer dogs were looking under trucks on the road after the incident. I saw a guy being led away.” Tourists Greg Summers. The 33-year-old from Australia said: “I went down just after it looked like it was all in the center of a restaurant.” A worker at a pub in Poland Street said: “The incident happened inside a door next to a restaurant. There were police everywhere. “One guy was arrested, he was calm, quite calm. They handcuffed him and took him out.” Tourist Beth Ellison said: “It’s a shock and a tragedy. I was just passing by and saw a man being taken off. It all happened near a restaurant.” A construction worker told how an argument escalated near a Korean restaurant on Poland Steet. He said: “There was shouting in the street and then it escalated into a full row. There was a gun and then someone fell to the ground.” Forensic teams trawled the scene for clues. Meanwhile, detectives were collecting CCTV footage from the road and the area around Oxford Street. Video shared on social media shows several police cars at the scene with a cordon at the junction of Poland Street and Oxford Street. In a statement, London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 11.36am. today (August 15) to reports of a stabbing in Poland Street, central London. We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in an ambulance and an incident response officer to the scene. “We also dispatched the London Air Ambulance. Our first ambulance arrived in less than seven minutes. Despite the best efforts of our teams, the patient unfortunately died at the scene.” Poland Street is a closed off Oxford Street, which is one of the busiest shopping areas in Europe and attracts tens of thousands of visitors a day, ending in Soho, another busy area known for its nightlife. PA A spokesman for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The Mayor’s thoughts are with the friends and family of the victim following this horrific attack in our city today. “A man has been arrested and the mayor remains in close contact with the Met Police regarding the incident. “Every violent death in London is a tragedy, so the mayor’s top priority will always be to tackle crime and the complex causes of crime.” Monday’s attack comes after three shootings within five miles, one of which killed a young man and wounded another. A 25-year-old man was murdered outside a child’s first birthday party at a community center in Forest Rise, Walthamstow, just before 9.30pm on Saturday. He was taken to hospital in a private vehicle but later died. Police believe he was killed in a “targeted attack” and are still hunting the gunman. It came hours after a man in his twenties was stabbed and shot in Bohemia Place, Hackney, at 2.40am. His condition is not life threatening. Fifty minutes later, shots were fired at a residential address a mile away in Corsley Way, Hackney Wick.
