'It hasn't sunk in yet' Shock after teens stabbed

Jonny Humphries & Jenny Coleman
BBC News, Merseyside
BBC A yellow framed bus stop outside a Go Local Extra shop and The New Johnny Todd pub in Kirkby is cordoned off by police. Blue plastic sheeting can be seen and the shop's shutters are down.BBC
People in Kirkby have described seeing children treated at the scene

Residents have described their shock after a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were stabbed outside a shop.

Armed police were called to Whitefield Drive in Westvale in Kirkby shortly after 20:00 BST following reports of two teenagers being stabbed.

A 15-year-old boy suffered a number of stab wounds to the body and a 14-year-old girl suffered a single stab wound to the chest in an attack in Kirkby on Wednesday evening.

A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is in custody to be interviewed by officers.

A man dressed in white overalls is collecting items from the crime scene next to a yellow framed bus stop. A policeman is standing in the road which is closed off.
Merseyside Police is appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident.

One resident, who did not want to be named described how emergency response vehicles "just kept coming".

"There was loads of lights and sirens going off so I just looked out my window," he said.

"There was probably 16 emergency response vehicles."

He described how he saw the children being treated at the scene before being taken away in ambulances.

"It's terrible. I've got two young kids we literally go into that shop for chocolate, sweets, drink, it's literally just on my doorstep. It hasn't sunk in yet."

Both children are in a serious but stable condition in hospital and their injuries are not believed to be life threatening, Merseyside Police said.

Police tape surrounds an paved area close to a pub and a shop. Two police officers stand close to the cordon.
Armed officers were called to Whitefield Drive in Westvale, Kirkby after two teenagers were stabbed.

Detectives believe the incident may have been linked to an earlier dispute which took place between a group of youths in the Tithe Barn Lane area and are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

Det Insp Graeme Osborne of Merseyside Police said:

"It was a pleasant summer's evening and we know that there would have been people in and around the Westvale area, both in cars or on foot, and I would appeal for anyone who saw anything, or captured something on their mobile phone or dashcam to contact us."

The force said an investigation is ongoing and house-to-house, CCTV and witness enquiries are being carried out.

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