By Megan Howe and Emily Jane Davies and Liz Hull and Mark Lister
12:22 07 Apr 2024, updated 13:09 07 Apr 2024
- Police are searching for a man who reportedly fled the scene in Westgate
A young woman stabbed to death in broad daylight was pushing her five-month-old baby in a buggy when she was attacked, it emerged today.
According to eyewitnesses the 27-year-old was stabbed ‘four to five times’ in the neck while shopping with a friend in Bradford on Saturday.
Police today continued to search for the knifeman, who ran away following the stabbing, leaving the woman, who is of Pakistani descent, dying on the pavement.
She was outside a convenience store, waiting for her friend who had gone to buy goods inside, when she was set upon.
Geo Khan, 69, who runs a fruit a veg shop, tried to resuscitate the woman, who was one of his customers.
He said: ‘I was working on Saturday and I heard screams and ran out of my shop.
‘I saw that the lady was lying face down on the pavement next to a pushchair with her five -month-old baby inside.
‘I turned her over. There was a lot of blood and I checked for a pulse, but couldn’t find one.
‘I could see the knife wounds to her neck and I tried to do CPR.
‘Her friend was screaming.’
Mr Khan said a doctor who was passing in a car stopped to help.
‘He picked up a pulse and I went to get a sheet to put over her until the ambulance came,’ he added.
The murder took place outside the Westgate International Food store, at the junction of Westgate and Drewton Road, at 3:21pm yesterday.
Today forensic officers, dressed in white suits, continued to gather evidence from the scene and a large police cordon remained in place.
Adhi Aziz, 41, owner of Venice Barber Shop, said the woman was from Oldham, Greater Manchester, and had been ‘tracked down’ by her attacker, who is thought to be known to the victim.
‘We were really busy on Saturday and didn’t see anything until all the police started to turn up,’ Mr Aziz said.
‘The lady was attacked outside the Westgate corner shop and the man that stabbed her has run off down the road.
‘My wife told me the woman was pushing a pram with a baby inside when she was stabbed, and that she came from Oldham and the man has tracked her down.’
Police officers were also combing car parks, bushes and waste ground near the Harp of Erin pub, on Chain Street, in case the killer dumped the murder weapon as he escaped on foot.
Detective Chief Inspector Stacey Atkinson, of West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, described the stabbing as a ‘shocking incident that has happened in broad daylight.’
She said that part of the city was busy at the time and the attack was ‘witnessed by a number of people.’
DCI Atkinson said: ‘A young woman has lost her life in the most awful circumstances, and we have extensive enquiries ongoing to locate and arrest the man responsible.
‘We understand that this incident will understandably cause concern in the local community, and I would like to reassure the wider public that we are working tirelessly to investigate this horrendous crime and bring the person responsible to justice.’
She urged anyone with dashcam footage to get in touch.
In a joint statement, Bradford City ward councillors, Aneela Ahmed, Nazam Azam and Shakeela Lal, said: ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened by yesterday’s incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the deceased.
‘We would urge anyone who has any information relating to the incident, to contact the police.’
Bradford West MP Naz Shah, whose constituency covers the city centre, described the incident as ‘really shocking’.
She sent her condolences to the woman’s loved ones and also urged anyone with any information to get in touch with officers.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
