Police have launched an urgent appeal for witnesses after a little girl was stabbed to death while walking with family on Mother's Day.
The seven-year-old girl was stabbed in a 'unprovoked and random attack' in Queen's Park, near Bolton town centre, on Sunday afternoon.
She suffered serious injuries and died a short time later.
A 30-year-old woman, who was initially detained by a member of the public, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
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The woman remains in police custody for questioning and is not known to the family of the girl.
Greater Manchester Police continue to investigate and are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Wesley Knights, of GMP’s Major Incident Team said: “This is an extremely tragic incident in which a young girl was brutally attacked and sadly lost her life. Our thoughts remain with her family who are being supported by specialist officers at this incredibly distressing time.
“I would like to commend the bravery of the member of public who detained the woman until police arrived at the scene and arrested her. Although we have a woman in custody, our investigation is very much ongoing.
“This incident happened in the middle of a park at a busy time of day, and I am confident that there are a number of witnesses with valuable information who can help to assist with our enquiries.
"If you have any information at all, no matter how minor you may think it is, I urge you to get in contact with police and I would also encourage anyone with any footage or images that could assist with our enquiries to upload them to scd.cctv@gmp.police.uk as soon as possible.”
There was a huge emergency service response following the attack, which took place on March 22, at 2.34pm.
The 22 acre park, which lies about a quarter of a mile to the west of the town centre, was cordoned off with dozens of police officers guarding the entrances and perimeter.
Anyone with any information should contact police on 0161 856 8797 or 101 quoting incident number 1430 of the 22/03/20, or email 69851@gmp.pnn.police.uk .
Please upload any footage or images to scd.cctv@gmp.police.uk.
Reports can also be made anonymously, via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
