Police are hunting for a man after a double stabbing in east London left one woman dead and another injured.
A woman in her 50s was found killed and a woman in her 30s was injured at a home in Newham, the Metropolitan police said.
Police said the stabbings were not a random attack and that the suspect was known to both women.
For operational reasons they would not release what the relationship was nor whether the two women were related or whether they knew each other.
Police say they were called at 3.35am on Sunday to a home in Windmill Lane, close to Stratford shopping centre in east London.
Paramedics treated the victims although the woman in her 50s could not be saved. The younger woman is now in hospital and her injuries are not thought to be critical.
Ch Insp Lisa Parker said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with both of these women as well as their friends and family.
“I know that people in Newham and in particular those in the Stratford area will be shocked and concerned by this tragic incident. I share their concern, and can assure them that specialist detectives are working at pace to identify and arrest whoever was responsible.
“Local officers will be patrolling the area, and I urge anyone with information or concerns to speak with those officers. They are there to protect and support you.”
So far this year, homicides in the Met police area are down compared with the same point last year. A total of 86 homicide investigations have been launched in 2022, compared with 109 between January to October 2021. Overall in 2021 there were 131 recorded homicides in the Met area, which covers most of London.
The Met said: “Despite the efforts of emergency services, one of the women, aged in her 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman’s family have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.
“The second woman, aged in her 30s, has been taken to hospital where her condition is not thought to be life-threatening at this time.
“Urgent inquiries are ongoing to trace a man who is believed to have been known to both women. We are not releasing further details of this man.”
Police said a postmortem, to give a formal cause of death, and formal identification are yet to take place.
Those who may have information to help the murder investigation can call Crimestoppers or 101, the non-emergency number for police.
