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Teen suspect arrested for murder after girl, 15, stabbed to death and boy, 16, injured in brutal attack

'Both victims' families are being supported by specially-trained officers at this devastating time,' Northumbria police tweeted

HEXHAM, UNITED KINGDOM: A teenage boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 15-year-old girl died at a hospital after being stabbed to death at about 5.10 pm in Northumberland on Friday, January 27. The 16-year-old suspect, who remains in custody at the time, was initially arrested on suspicion of assault. 

Northumbria Police were alerted shortly after the time of the incident to a report of a suspected double stabbing of a teenage boy and girl in the Priestpopple area of the town center, according to The Telegraph. Both the boy and girl aged 16 and 15, respectively, who suffered severe injuries "consistent with having been caused by a bladed article," were taken to hospital by the emergency services. Police reportedly confirmed that the girl died later that evening whereas the boy suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries and is currently stable at the hospital. A murder investigation has been launched following the incident. 

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"Both of their families are being supported by specially-trained officers at this devastating time," Northumbria police tweeted. "Our thoughts are with all loved ones at this awful time, and we are supporting them in every way we can. We are determined to find out what happened & bring anyone involved to justice. Officers are in the area to carry out enquiries & offer reassurance. We believe those involved are known to each other & would ask people not to speculate."

According to the DailyMail, the mayor of Hexham, Derek Kennedy, told PA: "It's an absolute tragedy, the town is in complete shock, to lose one of our children who attends a local high school is just horrendous. Parents are really anxious for the health of their children because they're all a part of this community, the schools are all really anxious that their children are really feeling the pain and suffering and shock of such an awful incident. In the Hexham community, we have a very low crime rate, generally, it's a community that looks after one another, we were awarded the happiest place to live in Great Britain last year. It's a very warm and loving community so for a tragedy such as this to happen, we always find it much more difficult and it's knocked everyone for six. To happen to such a young person and the alleged perpetrator to be a young person, in the high street at 5 pm, is just shocking, everyone is just shocked and struggling to come to terms with it, it will ruin so many lives."

As per the outlet, detective superintendent Aelf Sampson, of Northumbria Police, who was present last night at the location of the attack alongside ambulance crews, said, "This is clearly a serious incident and a full investigation is under way. While our investigation is at an early stage, we do believe all those involved are known to each other. We are determined to find out what has happened and bring anyone involved to justice."

While the superintendent informs the public about a significant police presence in the area throughout the weekend, he has asked anyone with information to contact them via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of the police website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20230127-0795 as soon as possible, as per The Mail.