Police have launched a murder investigation after a 19-year-old university student was fatally stabbed in Manchester.
The teenager, who attended Manchester Metropolitan University, was found with a serious knife wound near a large halls of residence at 2am on Wednesday, police said.
The victim, who has not yet been named, was given CPR at the scene in the Fallowfield area of the city before he was taken to hospital, where he later died, Greater Manchester police said.
A spokesperson for Manchester Metropolitan University said: “We can confirm that Greater Manchester police has informed us that one of our students died in an incident in Fallowfield in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“Our thoughts are with their family and friends at this difficult time. We will be contacting them to offer our help and support.
“This will be a terrible shock to our whole community and we will be arranging for professionally trained counselling staff to support any students and staff who are affected by the incident. We cannot offer further comment at this time.”
Officers increased patrols in Fallowfield on Wednesday as they searched for the man’s killer.
The attack took place on a busy main road in the centre of a suburb that is home to thousands of students from the city’s two main universities. The Manchester Evening News reported that the student was on his way home from a party when police believe he came across his alleged attacker. The two are not believed to have known each other.
A blue forensics tent was erected between a row of takeaways and large halls of residence for University of Manchester students.
Det Supt Neil Jones, of the force’s south Manchester division, said: “This was a terrible crime which has robbed a young man of his life and my thoughts are with his family at this devastating time.
“I understand it will cause distress and concern to many in Fallowfield and across Manchester more widely, including our large student community.”
Jones added: “The investigation is in its early stages, but I can assure you that our officers are working round the clock and carrying out extensive inquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding this incident.
“We are actively pursuing leads and will relentlessly pursue the offender to ensure they are brought to justice.
“There will be more officers out on the streets in Fallowfield and the surrounding area over the coming days conducting high-visibility and plainclothes patrols to gather intelligence and reassure the community. Greater Manchester police operates a student safe operation with our partners on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights where our officers patrol the student areas at night, and these efforts will ramp up and be given extra resources.
“I hope this goes some way to reassure the community and if anyone has any information about this incident or has any concerns, I urge you to speak to these officers. They are there to help and support you.”
