A teenager died after being ambushed and stabbed by a knife-wielding gang less than 50 yards from his family home.
Andrew Oteng, 19, staggered, with blood pouring from a leg wound, to the first-floor flat in Bermondsey where he lived with his mother Tina.
He hammered on the front door before collapsing on the doorstep saying: “I can’t breathe.”
Neighbours rushed to give him first aid before he was taken to King’s College Hospital at 11.40pm on Wednesday. He was given emergency surgery but died 12 hours later.
The death of the former pupil of St Thomas the Apostle Catholic College in Peckham has shocked friends and neighbours in the close-knit estate near Millwall’s Den stadium.
They said the “kind, polite boy” was dedicated to caring for his sick mother and had ambitions to study at university.
Close friend Kirsty Anderson, 18, said: “We saw him come past and my mate shouted ‘Are you alright?’.
“He said ‘I’m bleeding’ and we saw all the blood down his leg. That’s when we called the ambulance.
“At first he didn’t look in pain but then he collapsed outside his door. When the ambulance came the last thing I heard him say was ‘I can’t breathe’.
“I’m still shocked. I can’t imagine how his mum is feeling. He was a really lovely boy, always polite and never mixed up in any trouble.”
It is understood Andrew was ambushed and stabbed multiple times near an underpass on Lovelinch Close, some 50 yards from his home.
He is the fourth teenager stabbed to death in the capital this year.
Louise Owabie held the dying boy’s hand as he lay on the balcony outside the flat.
She said: “I was talking to him, holding his hand. I had to keep him talking. He kept saying he couldn’t breathe. I thought he would pull through. I bawled when I found out he’d died.
“Why target him? All he did was care for his mum and look out for himself. He was a likeable, well-known kid.”
Courtney Stearn said she saw Andrew an hour before the attack.
She said: “He was happy and laughing like always. It’s shocking, I can’t get over it. He was so friendly, everyone knew him.”
Another friend said: “He’d applied to university and had a good head on him. His mum must be crushed. The estate will never be the same.”
Detectives have launched an investigation, and an incident room has been opened at Lewisham police station.
No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 020 8721 4961 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
