EIGHT HELD AS TWO TEENS ‘MURDERED’
Third person wounded in ‘targeted knife attack’
TWO teenagers were stabbed to death in the early hours of yesterday morning in what police say may have been a targeted attack.
Eight men have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
A third person suffered knife wounds that are not thought to be life-changing.
It is thought a prior disturbance elsewhere may have spilt over into the deadly attack in Brentwood, Essex.
Det Supt Stephen Jennings, of Essex Police, said his team were looking at the possibility that “there was a precursor incident” in another part of town.
“We are exploring that,” he said. “We think the groups did know each other.”
Locals said they had heard shouts and somebody “yelling out in pain”, close to block of flats Regency Court at around 1.30am. Mark MacIntosh said: “I came home five minutes before I heard the shouts and screams.
“I said ‘should I go down?’ as I usually do if I think there’s something serious, but I couldn’t hear.”
He claimed he had warned police about disturbances just weeks ago.
“There’s constant anti-social behaviour, drinking, drugs, shouting, fighting,” Mark added. “I’ve come down and broken up a knife fight before.”
“I phoned the police three weeks ago and told them, ‘you need to make constant patrols around here because something bad is going to happen soon’.”
Another local claimed their neighbour had come across one of the victims and tried in vain to save their life.
She said: “There was a lot of noise. It sounded like a lot of people. One of our neighbours, they came across this chap as he was dying. They couldn’t save him.”
Groups of youths gathered throughout the day at the scene to lay flowers and other tributes – including a bottle of Pepsi and some Kinder Bueno chocolate.
Meanwhile, forensic officers spent hours combing a large cordoned-off area outside the Georgian-style building.
Part of Crown Street, a small shopping area around 100 yards away from the scene, was also blocked off while police searched for clues.
Other residents in the leafy town said the double killing had left them reeling, and even scared to go out.
Police have so far declined to give exact ages of the victims but they are understood to be under 18.
Alex Burghart, the MP for Brentwood and Ongar, said: “We are all in a state of shock at the moment.
“Incidents like these are quite rare in our town and to have two boys killed in one night has left us very upset.”
A neighbour of ours came across this chap as he was dying.. they couldn’t save him
BRENTWOOD RESIDENT TALKING ABOUT THE HORRIFIC KNIFE ATTACK