Hunt for frenzied knife killer of stranger on top deck of bus
A KILLER was on the run last night after knifing a stranger to death on a bus in front of horrified passengers.
The victim was stabbed several times in the stomach and back in the frenzied attack which had no obvious motive.
Minutes before, he and his attacker had been sitting alongside each other on opposite sides of the aisle on the top deck of the bus.
The two men did not appear to know each other, police said.
Suddenly, a row broke out and they exchanged punches.
The killer pulled out a folding pocket knife and attacked the victim.
As the stabbed man collapsed, the killer ran off the 11A bus in Handsworth, Birmingham, at around 10.40pm on Monday night. Four passengers also fled as a fifth alerted the driver and comforted the dying man.
Police appealed for the four passengers who left the bus to contact them urgently.
Detective Superintendent Tom Chisholm said the victim and his killer boarded the bus within minutes of each other.
“There didn’t appear to be much of a build-up to this incident,” he added.
“It very quickly became physical and clearly the one male has overpowered the other one and there are a number of blows exchanged.”
CCTV from the bus and the street will play a key role in the inquiry.
Police were last night still searching for the murder weapon. Det Supt Chisholm said: “We have got the scene still cordoned off on the street, which we’ll be searching today.
“Clearly there’s extensive CCTV we need to seize and view as well as making our own local inquiries.”
The suspect is black, thought to be about 5ft 9in tall and was wearing a dark padded jacket.
He also had a dark baseball cap, a “nondescript” duffel bag and some “bin-type earphones”.
At one stage, the suspect’s cap was knocked off revealing a short dreadlock-style haircut, with a centre parting.
The family of the victim, also a black male and believed to be in his 30s, have been informed.