A 15-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital in a 'critical but stable' condition after being stabbed on a bus yesterday.
The teenager, said by locals to be a student at Highbury Grove School, was attacked near Arsenal's football stadium at about 3.30pm this afternoon.
Police were called to Highbury New Park after the teenage boy was stabbed on a route 393 bus.
Nearby residents said the boy was stabbed by a black teenager, aged approximately 16, who was wearing a baseball cap and who also pushed a passenger to the ground before running off through the nearby Spring Gardens Estate.
A schoolboy has been left fighting for his life in hospital after he was stabbed on a bus in Highbury New Park (pictured) in broad daylight
The victim was treated at the scene, near the junction of Holmcote Gardens, by paramedics before being rushed to hospital
Andrew Lloyd Webber had visited Highbury Grove School earlier in the day support of the Music in Secondary Schools Trust.
One local resident, who did not want to be named, said: 'I have been told that the boy that attacked him went to the back of the bus and stabbed him. He then pushed someone over, jumped off the bus and ran through the estate.'
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'We were called at 3.30pm to reports of a stabbing on a route 393 bus at the junction of Highbury New Park at the junction with Holmcote Gardens.
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'The victim is a 15 year old boy. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition. He is now said to be in critical, but stable.
'There have been no arrest at this stage but investigations are ongoing.'
'We cannot say at this stage if the incident is gang-related. We are also unable to say if he attended the Holloway Grove School.'
Forensic officers were combing the area near the attack this evening looking for clues.
Miriam Zoabir, 61, was picking her 12 year old granddaughter up from school around 3pm. She said: 'There was police and ambulances everywhere.
'I was so worried my granddaughter might have been caught up in it, but thankfully I saw her quite quickly.
'There is never really any trouble at this school since my granddaughter started going here.'
A spokesman for London Ambulance said a helicopter ambulance landed in the playing fields of a nearby school before taking the youngster to hospital.
The road was closed this afternoon while police carried out their investigations
Police were called just after 3pm to Highbury New Park, north London, following reports of a stabbing
A woman described hearing a bus screech to a halt moments after the youngster was stabbed on board.
Police were called at 3.30pm to reports of a stabbing on a route the 393 bus which stopped in Highbury New Park at the junction with Holmcote Gardens.
Lucy Smith, 56, who lives in a flat overlooking the scene, said: 'I was looking out of the window.
'I saw the bus screech to a halt.'
She said a boy jumped off the bus and ran down the road.
She said: 'My dogs nearly had him, but I didn't see where he went. Obviously I didn't know what had happened at the time.'
Paramedics attended the scene along with a helicopter ambulance which landed in the playing fields of nearby Highbury Grove School in Highbury Grove.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'We were called to reports of a stabbing on a route 393 bus at 3.20pm today.
One resident described seeing the teenager being given CPR as he lay in the road following the incident in Highbury New Park (pictured)
'The bus had stopped at Highbury New Park at the junction with Holmcote Gardens. London Ambulance Service and an air ambulance were also called to the scene.
'The victim is a male in his teens. He has been treated at the scene. He remains in a critical condition. There have been no arrests and road closures are in place.'
One eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said: 'He was stabbed on the bus, at the back of the bus. He looked about 15 years old although some people were saying he might only be 12.
'I saw the passengers on the bus milling around and people were giving him CPR. I thought at first that he had had some sort of epileptic fit, they were working on him for quite a long time.
'I have been told that the boy that attacked him went to the back of the bus and stabbed him. He then pushed someone over, jumped off the bus and ran through the estate'
- A local resident
'But then a workman said that it was a boy who had been stabbed.
'The police and then the ambulance turned up and took over. At first there was just one police car and then loads turned up.
'The next thing was the air ambulance arrived and landed in the car park of Highbury Grove school.
'They put the boy on a stretcher with a white screen around him - I don’t think it looked very good.'
Elizabeth Johnson, 33, who lives on the Highbury New Park Estate opposite the scene, described seeing the boy being given CPR as he lay in the road.
She said: 'They were doing CPR on the road. It’s a little child. He was very young only Year 1 or so.
'An air ambulance arrived and parked in the school playground and then took off about half an hour later.
'People are still on the bus and they are taking their details.'
She added that she believed that the young stabbing victim may have been a pupil at a nearby school.
Eyewitness Emma Nisse said on Twitter: 'Stabbing on bus right outside my house - police everywhere & paramedics trying to save his life by my garden gate.'