"Someone's son, someone's brother, has been taken for nothing. But will this deter people from carrying knives?"
Tracy James is standing in the open front door of her home on Skelmersdale's Digmoor estate with her pet dog barking behind her. Tracy's semi-detached house is close enough to the Digmoor Road dual carriageway that you can hear cars whizz past on one side of the road - while on the other a large police cordon has remained overnight.
The Skelmersdale community was devastated last night when 15-year-old boy Dylan Bragger brutally stabbed to death. The ECHO understands the boy was chased along the dual carriageway before he was killed.
READ MORE: Schoolboy with 'heart of gold' stabbed to death named locally
Speaking to the ECHO, Tracy said: "His family are absolutely devastated. Everyone is shocked - it's just so unexpected. It's not so much it's scary, it's sick. It was horrendous last night.
"I was sitting in my house and I could hear people running around and shouting. I just thought it was kids. Then someone came down and said 'someone has been stabbed'. In our day a fight was settled fist to fist and that was the end of it.
"Nowadays it is just pointless deaths. The younger generation are carrying knives because others are. It goes around in circles. This is what happens - what a waste of a life."
Residents on the Digmoor estate started coming to terms with the senseless brutality when they woke this morning. People claimed the teenager's death came over something as trivial as an alleged dispute about a bike.
Children, some around Dylan's age and others much younger, readied themselves for school this morning. Those braving the rain to make the journey by foot were turned away from their usual routes over a footpath due to the police cordon.
One mum, with two young children, said the murder was all anyone had been talking about this morning. The woman, who spoke to the ECHO on the basis of anonymity, added: "It's absolutely terrible what has happened.
"We were out last night but saw the police lights when we came home. The poor family." Another man, who spoke to the ECHO from his bedroom window, said it was "a quiet community where people keep to themselves".
The estate, filled with cul-de-sacs made up of white plastic-panelled houses, experienced another case of extreme violence four years ago when a gunman burst into a house and shot three men. A dad and son were among the victims of the brutal attack on Belfield, just off Digmoor Road.
One local told the ECHO at the time: "It's difficult for young lads in Skelmersdale, there's nothing around here for them. It's the forgotten town. We don't have a train station, there are no youth clubs or sports centres. It used to be a great place to live but knife crime has shot up in the last 10 years."
Tracy, who has lived in Skelmersdale since 1966, told the ECHO: "Skem gets a lot of bad publicity. But I've been here for decades and people look after each other. The amount of people who rally around each other and support each other is amazing.
"You've got good and bad everywhere, it's not just Skem. The community will give the family the support they need over the coming days."
Tributes to the dead teenager have flooded in throughout the course of the day and a fundraiser has been set up to help his family. Dylan was described by his loved ones as a "lovely lad" with a "heart of gold". John Hunter wrote: "The good do die young, rest in peace little Dylan, I'm in total shock. Thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends. Fly high my little mate."
Rebeccah-Jayne Gaskell said: "Forever young, forever 15. May you rest in eternal peace Dylan. The whole of Skem has come to a stand still, my thoughts are with his parents, family and friends at this heartbreaking time. Could never even begin to imagine what they're going through."
The Digmoor estate stood quiet this morning marking a complete juxtaposition to last night when the area was a hive of activity. Police swarmed to the area at around 9pm and residents of the area stood watching on. A group of Dylan's friends quietly watched on respectfully.
Today only a handful of officers remained guarding the cordon which extended along a 70m stretch of road and an area of woodland. Several cars remained parked inside and a green tarpaulin covered the ground where Dylan was believed to have taken his final breath.
Inspector Simon Pritchard, of Lancashire Police said: "A murder investigation is underway following the death of a boy in Skelmersdale. These are very sad and tragic circumstances and my thoughts are with the victim’s family at this time.
"Whilst we have made an arrest we would continue to appeal to anyone with information, or who feels they can assist with our enquiries, to come forward. This happened near to a busy dual carriageway, so we’d ask drivers to check their dash cam footage and think back to any unusual activity they may recall from the area.
"It’s important we build a picture of the full circumstances surrounding the incident. We recognise this will have caused some concern in the community but please be reassured incidents of this nature are rare and we have a dedicated team of detectives working on the case."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting log number 1526 of June 29th.
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