A 13-year-old boy has been stabbed outside a McDonald's in Birmingham in front of horrified shoppers and commuters.
The boy was rushed to hospital with potentially life-changing injuries after the attack at 4.30pm on Wednesday.
Police launched an investigation and cordoned off a ramp leading up to Birmingham’s New Street station and Grand Central, outside the McDonald’s restaurant.
West Midlands Police said patrols had been stepped up in the area and urged any witnesses to get in touch.
A spokesperson for the police force said: “We were called after a teenage boy was stabbed in Stephenson Place in the city centre, shortly after 4.30pm on Wednesday.
“The 13-year-old boy has been taken to hospital with potentially life-changing injuries.
“We had more officers in the area last night to offer reassurance to the public.”
“There’s a large police presence and Grand Central ramp sealed off by police, blue tape and blue lights everywhere,” a witness told BirminghamLive yesterday.
Another witness, David Eden-Sangwell, spoke to BirminghamLive to describe how he saw paramedics rush into the McDonald’s followed by a response doctor.
He said: “I saw people looking up the ramp at some sort of commotion, but I couldn’t see anything going on when I looked.
“About 10 [minutes] later I saw the first police car arrive, driving up the tramway past New Street station pulling up between the ramp and Apple Store.”
He described how he then saw police putting out tape at either end of the ramp and then “clearing the public under the tape at the bottom”.
A spokeswoman from West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 4.41pm to an incident on Stephenson Place, Birmingham along with police colleagues.
“An ambulance, paramedic officer, a MERIT trauma doctor and critical care paramedic responded to the scene.”
Anyone with information on the stabbing has been urged to come forward.
