A 15-year-old schoolboy has been stabbed to death as a police hunt for his killer was launched.
Metropolitan Police raced to Highbury Fields in North London just before 9pm last night to reports of a stabbing.
An eyewitness says she heard the teen tell the police, 'I'm dying', and sobbed while he lay bleeding on the ground.
The woman says she saw the boy being treated and comforted by police after the attack but couldn't see any blood.
The 15-year-old was treated at the scene by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service before being rushed to the hospital where he sadly died.
A pair of American tourists said they say a group of 15 and 20 young people became "heated" in Highbury Fields last night
Kimberley Patton-Bragg and Michael Bragg are currently visiting London from New Orleans, Louisana.
Ms Patton-Bragg told the PA news agency: "Right around 7 o'clock, 7.15, kids - it was definitely kids - were being rambunctious and it was definitely getting heated."
The couple were sitting inside their AirBnB, which faces onto the park, with the windows open when the situation escalate.
Ms Patton-Bragg added: "We saw a cop on his bike go after them and he was calling the other [cops].
"We just figured they were just breaking it up, we didn't know it was going to escalate that badly."
Mr Bragg said: "You could feel it building, at some point the groups became larger."
Chloe Hadjimatheou told MyLondon at the scene: "I saw them running away and him on the ground being attended to. He was stabbed and chased then he fell down. I couldn't see any blood. I thought he would be alright. He was still alive. Police were reassuring him he'd be ok and he was saying, 'I'm dying'. Really upsetting.
"It took a while for the ambulance to get here - at least 10 minutes. Two officers got to him straight away. A police van arrived and two marked cars. There were three police vehicles plus a cordon up before the ambulance arrived.
“A fair number of people were around [when the stabbing occurred]. There was a group of 20 odd kids. I think his mates ran away. Two girls came up sitting next to him holding his hand. My kid is starting at school soon and I'm thinking, 'is he at the school where I'm going to send my kid?'"
Another resident in the area said: "I heard a lot of commotion. Shouting and running. Sounded like a lot of people. I saw boys running up the road, maybe four of them. I don't know if they were involved or scared."
Other residents told MyLondon they saw a "large crowd of 40 teens" in the Highbury Fields park before the fatal stabbing took place.
Ella Doyle said: "I was on Highbury Fields from about 6pm-8pm and it was pretty packed with people having picnics and stuff.
"And then, at about 7.30pm, a group of about 40 kids, probably around 14 or 15 [years old], all ran from one side of the park to the other. You could hear some of them say, 'Why are we running?' It didn't look like anything sinister whatsoever. If that was linked, then that's awful. They were all so young."
Albina, who lives locally said her daughter witnessed a gang of "around 70" youths approaching the park approximately an hour before the stabbing.
She told the PA news agency that her daughter, a teacher, was walking with her 15-year-old son at about 7.45pm when she saw the group, which she guessed included children as young as 15.
The cordon surrounding Highbury Fields, which covers the whole park, will be in place for "at least the rest of the day" and possibly for a couple of days, police at the scene said.
Police are still working to inform his next of kin and a crime scene remains in place.
There have been no arrests as they continue to investigate.
Homicide detectives from Specialist Crime have been informed.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or tweet @MetCC and quote CAD 7948/4Aug.
Alternatively, you can speak to the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
