Killing on Oxford Street Mars Boxing Day in London

The annual British day of bargain-hunting was cut short in London on Monday by shopping rage, as a young man in London was stabbed to death just after noon.

The Metropolitan Police said that 10 people were being held in connection with the stabbing, which happened in the center of the city?s West End shopping district as it was packed with thousands of holiday shoppers taking advantage of Boxing Day sales.

Much of the famous shopping street remained closed into the evening as the police continued to investigate.

The police reported a second stabbing hours later, Sky News reported, though it was not clear whether the two episodes were connected.

Mark Dunne, of London?s Metropolitan Police, said the first attack took place after two groups of young people appeared to have become involved in a large-scale altercation, The Associated Press reported. He said the police were likely to find many witnesses. ?This is probably the busiest place in the United Kingdom right now, on the busiest shopping day,? he said.

A little like Black Friday in the United States, the day after Christmas in Britain has become a traditional time of barnstorming stores offering deep discounts.

But unlike their American counterparts, British shoppers are not known for engaging in the sorts of stampedes and violence that have marred Black Friday sales in the United States in recent years.

A Twitter user named Kentis Gopalla posted the following image of panicked shoppers on Oxford Street after the stabbing:

Another picture posted to Twitter by a London-based user showed a man seated behind an area cordoned off by police as an officer stands over him.

The motive for the attack in London was not immediately known. Sky News reported that it occurred in or around a Foot Locker branch along the busy street.

That appeared to be confirmed by video posted online later on Monday that showed a chaotic scene outside a Foot Locker on Oxford Street as the police struggled to control crowds and emergency medical technicians worked on a man lying on the pavement.

It was not the first time that shoppers on Oxford Street were scattered by violence. In August, a similar stabbing occurred outside an H&M clothing store along the street, The Daily Mirror reported.

British shoppers also faced snarled transportation on Monday as transit workers staged strikes, The Guardian reported.

Source: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/killing-on-oxford-street-mars-boxing-day-in-london/

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