A community is devastated after the senseless murder of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death.
Lancashire Police were called to Digmoor Road, Skelmersdale, shortly after 9pm last night, June 29, following reports a teenage boy had been stabbed. Despite the best efforts of the emergency services who were on the scene within minutes, the 15-year-old died of his injuries. A murder investigation has been launched - and a 28-year-old man was arrested.
The teenager has been named by his friends as Dylan Bragger. One family friend told the Mirror Dylan was "a lovely lad" with a "heart of gold". Rebeccah-Jayne Gaskell wrote on Facebook: "Forever young, forever 15. May you rest in eternal peace Dylan.
READ MORE: Schoolboy with 'heart of gold' stabbed to death named locally
"The whole of Skem has come to a standstill, my thoughts are with his parents, family and friends at this heartbreaking time. Could never even begin to imagine what they're going through."
The ECHO understands Dylan lived on an estate close to the dual carriageway where he was found. This morning the estate was in mourning as residents came to terms with the devastating news.
Speaking from her doorway, Tracy James told the ECHO: "Everyone is completely shocked - it's just so unexpected. It's not so much scary, it's sick. Skem gets a lot of bad publicity, but it's a good place. People look after each other.
"The amount of people that rally around each other and support each other is amazing. You've got good and bad everywhere. This is devastating. The community will be here for his family in the coming days."
Tracy, who has lived on the estate since 1966, said: "It was horrendous last night - I sat in my house and could hear people running around and shouting. I just thought it was kids.
"Someone came down and said 'someone has been stabbed'. His family came running down and his friends were waiting up [near the bridge] which I thought was respectful."
A mum with two young children told the ECHO the murder was all anyone had been talking about this morning. The woman, who spoke to the ECHO on the basis of anonymity, added: "It's absolutely terrible what has happened. We were out last night but saw the police lights when we came home. The poor family."
A police cordon remained in place around approximately 70m of Digmoor Road westbound this morning. The cordon also extended into a period of woodland and a path to the side of the road.
Several police officers guarded the cordon at a number of different entrance points including at the footpath that led across the top of the road. Several cars remained inside the cordon - and a green tarpaulin covered the spot where Dylan was found.
Lancashire Police confirmed specialist family liaison officers were supporting Dylan's family at this time. Inspector Simon Pritchard, of Lancashire Police said: "A murder investigation is underway following the death of a boy in Skelmersdale.
“These are very sad and tragic circumstances and my thoughts are with the victim’s family at this time. Whilst we have made an arrest we would continue to appeal to anyone with information, or who feels they can assist with our enquiries, to come forward.
"This happened near a busy dual carriageway, so we’d ask drivers to check their dash cam footage and think back to any unusual activity they may recall from the area. It’s important we build a picture of the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
"We recognise this will have caused some concern in the community but please be reassured incidents of this nature are rare and we have a dedicated team of detectives working on the case."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting log number 1526 of June 29th.
