Forensics officers have been spotted analysing what appears to be a love letter scrawled on an envelope, at the scene of the horrific stabbing in which a schoolgirl was brutally killed.
Part of the message, which has been captured on camera, reads: “I love you so much and I never met someone with a better smile and better eyes than what you have, special girl”.
Also written on the envelope is what appears to be an instruction that says: “Read this after the brown note.”
At this stage it is not known who wrote the note but earlier today it was reported that the 15-year-old girl ‘rejected flowers from a boy she broke up with yesterday‘, moments before she was stabbed to death, according to an eyewitness.
Emergency services rushed to the scene in Croydon, south London this morning after the victim, who is believed to have been a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School, was knifed on her way to class.
A bus passenger has described the moment he bravely chased the boy, who is believed to have stabbed the victim in the neck.
Security guard Victor Asare was on the bus on the way home from a night shift when he saw the boy in a black blazer stab the young victim with a knife which was “black, thin and about a foot long”.
Mr Asare, 50, said: “It looked like the girl didn’t want the boy to come closer.”
He described a horrific scene where blood was “coming like water” from the teenage girl.
“A lot of people came, everyone came off the bus,” he added. “[The boy] ran away. Everybody was crying and screaming. The girl was on the floor.
“We tried to catch him and a lot of people tried to save the girl. I was so shocked. I was shaken. It’s somebody’s daughter.
“I finished work but couldn’t sleep, so came back. I wanted to see if the girl was OK.”
Police and paramedics were called to Wellesley Road, in Croydon, at about 8.30am to reports the girl had been stabbed.
Both the land and air ambulance attended but she was pronounced dead at the scene 50 minutes later despite the efforts of paramedics and members of the public who stepped in to help her.
A bus driver and a passer-by were seen desperately trying to save the girl before emergency services arrived, with police at the scene within two minutes.
A mum-of-two, who wanted to be named only as Bridget, said: “I was on the bus before and came off and walked back down. I saw them resuscitating her.
“The driver was holding her, and a lady. The emergency services were already here when I walked back.”
She said two other schoolgirls, believed to be the victim’s friends, were trying to get back through the police cordon but were held back.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy who they believe knew the victim in connection with the fatal stabbing.
The girl who died was a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School, a private girls’ school in Croydon.
The school released a statement which said: “We are deeply shocked by the senseless and tragic death of our much-loved and valued friend and pupil.
“It will take some time for the Old Palace community to come to terms with this terrible news, and we will offer support to our pupils as we try to do so.
“Above all, we send our love and deepest sympathies to the girl’s family at this unimaginably distressing time.”
A large cordon was in place as the police investigation into the stabbing continued, with forensics officers and a dog handler among those at the scene.
A red double decker bus on route 60, three police vehicles and about a dozen officers, as well as a forensics tent, could be seen in a taped off area outside the Whitgift Centre.
Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain said: “This is every parent’s worst nightmare, and I know the officers who responded this morning, along with our emergency service colleagues, are devastated at the victim’s death.
“This is an emotion I share and I know people across Croydon will be feeling the same. The victim’s family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at what must be an incredibly difficult time.”
