Best friends stabbed to death were caught up in ‘gang turf war they weren’t part of’ | UK News

Two teenagers stabbed to death in Bristol were in the ‘wrong place, wrong time’ as rival gangs faced off in the street, horrified locals claim.

Mason Rist, 15, and 16-year-old Max Dixon died in hospital after they were attacked by a group of people at around 11.20pm on Saturday.

One woman ‘cradled’ one of the victims in her arms as he bled in the street.

Witness Jason Teakel, 45, saw the boys dying in the road outside his house, and his own teen son said the boys were ‘100% innocent victims’.

‘These poor kids were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ he told The Sun. ‘There is a postcode war going on around here between gangs, but Max and Mason were definitely not in any gang, I can assure you.’

A murder investigation has been launched and so far police have arrested four people.

A 44-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy were arrested on Sunday, while two more men, aged 20 and 22, were arrested on Monday.

The force say they’re still hunting more suspects, and that a car has been seized in connection with the investigation.

More floral tributes have been laid for Max and Mason, following a candle-lit vigil during which locals called for an end to knife crime in the Knowle West area of the city.

A huge banner reading ‘Stop knife crime RIP boys’ has been hung on a fence, while a note from the head of Oasis Academy, where they both went to school, said: ‘In loving memory of Mason and Max, gone but never forgotten.’

Speaking from the scene, anti-knife campaigner Leanne Reynolds, who organised a vigil on Sunday night, said the epidemic of knife crime had to be ended.

Leanne said: ‘Change has to come. It can happen to anyone, it can happen anywhere.

‘It doesn’t discriminate against colour, it’s not discriminating against areas and we just need to all stand together and stand firm as a community and as a city to get change.

‘It’s shocking, but it’s not new. This is not the first time.

‘I think standard first aid, bleed kit training and knife crime prevention should be put in the school curriculum.

‘It’s got to that stage now. We’re in a crisis.’

Superintendent Mark Runacres told how local residents came out of their homes after the incident and tried to help the victims. Police officers also provided first aid to the boys after rushing to the scene within minutes of the first 999 call.

He told BBC Radio Bristol: ‘The call was received shortly after 23:15 GMT and within an hour we had the first suspect identified through the linked vehicle and in custody.

‘People had come out of their houses into the streets to try and help the boys, and there are some really heart-wrenching accounts from people on how they sought to achieve that.’

Anyone with information about the killings, or who may have been a passenger on a double decker bus which drove past the scene, is asked to contact police.

A GoFundMe page to raise money for the boys’ funerals has been launched by Max’s aunt, Christine Fothergill. 

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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