Police investigating the fatal stabbing of a 21-year-old man in south London have appealed for witnesses who saw the victim or suspects on the bus beforehand.
Gabriel Petrov Stoyanov was stabbed in Bromley Road, Downham, shortly before midnight on Friday November 4. He died in hospital the following day.
Mr Stoyanov’s mother previously said he had a “sparkling personality and infinite goodness in his heart” and that he was “taken from us far too soon in the most brutal and cruel way”.
Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Allen, who is leading the murder investigation, said officers still needed to hear from anyone who saw the stabbing, or the victim and any suspects on the bus beforehand.
DCI Allen said the victim and a friend boarded a 181 bus to Grove Park at the LH bus stop on Southend Road at 11.05pm on the night of the stabbing. They were not sitting together.
A minute later, the three suspects boarded at stop LK on Southend Lane, she said.
Mr Stoyanov and his friend left the bus together at 11.11pm at stop DM in Downham Lane, junction with Rangefield Road.
The suspect group then got off two stops later at stop DP, at the junction with St Barnabas Hall, at 11.13pm.
“The two groups came together again in Bromley Road, when Gabriel sustained his injuries shortly before midnight,” said DCI Allen.
“I want to hear from anyone who saw Gabriel, his friend, and the suspect group, on the bus.
“Any information you have, no matter how insignificant it might seem, could help our investigation.”
Three teenage boys, aged 14, 16 and 17, have been charged with murder.
A man, aged 46, who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released under investigation.