A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Northampton on Wednesday afternoon has been named by police as Rohan Shand.
Known affectionately as Fred, he died from a single stab wound to the chest in the town’s Kingsthorpe suburb shortly after 3.35pm despite the best efforts of paramedics.
The boy’s family were said to be “devastated” at his death in the incident on Harborough Road, close to the junction with The Cock Hotel.
Four males, aged 14, 16, 21 and 49, were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the death and remain in custody.
This is an exceptionally sad and tragic incident and understandably has had a huge impact on the neighbourhood and wider community— Detective Inspector Simon Barnes
A forensic post-mortem carried out on Thursday by a Home Office pathologist identified the single stab wound as his cause of death.
Formal identification has not taken place but the boy’s family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.
Northamptonshire Police asked for their privacy to be respected and urged the public not to share “insensitive posts and images” on social media to avoid causing “additional distress”.
Detective Inspector Simon Barnes, the senior investigating officer, said: “Our thoughts continue to be with Fred’s family and friends as they try to come to terms with his death.
“This is an exceptionally sad and tragic incident and understandably has had a huge impact on the neighbourhood and wider community and we know people are very shocked and upset by what has happened.
“Our officers remain in the Kingsthorpe area and anyone with any concerns is encouraged to speak to them as they will be happy to help.
“We would also again appeal to anyone who may have information and who has yet come forward to please do so.
“If you have private CCTV footage or a dashboard camera, we would like to hear from you.
“Your footage may provide valuable information which could help us piece together what happened around the time of Fred’s attack.”
Anyone with information or CCTV, doorbell, or dashcam footage of the area at the time have been asked to call Northamptonshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 23000174855.
