A teenager was stabbed to death in a London street after he was chased down by a suspected attacker, say police who have launched the capital's 45th murder probe of the year.
Met Police officers and London medics, including an air ambulance, were called to the scene in Southwark at around 9.30pm on Sunday.
The 18-year-old victim was found suffering from stab injuries and rushed to a south London hospital, where he was pronounced dead just after 10.50pm.
Police are hunting at least one suspect after the victim was chased from Newington Gardens, behind Inner London Crown Court, to a nearby street in Elephant and Castle.
It was another violent weekend in the capital, with two men killed - one of whom was allegedly deliberately hit by a car - and three men shot.
Poet Theresa Lola, the Young People's Laureate for London, tweeted: "Another stabbing in London, sigh, this time an 18 year old in Southwark.
"Speechless, the victim was seen being chased by another man. When will the lives of young people be valued and prioritised in a time of clear crisis."
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A spokesperson for the Met Police said: "A murder investigating is underway following the fatal stabbing of a teenager in Southwark.
"Police were called by the London Ambulance Service on Sunday, 5 May at around 9.30pm to reports of a stabbing on Tiverton Street, SE1.
"Officers attended along with London’s Air Ambulance and found a man, aged 18, suffering from stab injuries.
"He was taken to a south London hospital where he died at 10.51pm.
" His next of kin have been informed.
"A post-mortem examination will be held in due course. Formal identification awaits.
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"The Homicide and Major Crime Command has been informed and will be leading on this investigation under DCI Richard Leonard.
"A crime scene remains in place.
"There have been no arrests at this time.
"A number of active enquiries are in hand including review of local CCTV footage, house to house calls and forensic analysis at the scene. "
DCI Leonard added in a statement: “We need those who have information about the culprit(s) for this murder to get in touch with police immediately.
"The victim was seen being chased by another male wearing a grey or blue hoody from Newington Gardens into Tiverton Street where he was attacked and shortly after found by police and London Air Ambulance.
"Were you there? Did you see anything? Your information could prove vital to solving this case and I would urge you to get in touch.”
Anyone with information is requested to call the police incident room on 0208 721 4622 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Met Police detectives launched at least two murder investigations over the early May bank holiday weekend.
In the other incident, a 52-year-old man died and a 32-year-old man was seriously injured when they were hit by a car in Leytonstone in east London.
Police believe the pair were deliberately run over following an altercation in the street in the early hours of Sunday.
In another incident, three men - aged 23, 29 and 30 - were shot in Leyon, east London, on Saturday night.
All three suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
At least 45 murder investigations have been launched in London this year.
Of those, at least 30 are stabbing investigations.
Last month, police data revealed that knife crime in England and Wales soared to record levels last year with 40,829 offences involving sharp instruments, up six per cent on the year before.
Cases of murder and manslaughter, excluding terror attacks, increased by 12 per cent.
There were 732 killings, up from 655 in 2017 - the highest since 2007.
