A 19-year-old Sudanese man has been stabbed to death on a residential street in Birmingham, sparking a murder investigation and deep concern within the city’s Sudanese community over rising youth violence.
West Midlands Police said officers were called to Hutton Road in the Handsworth area at about 5:20 p.m. on Sunday following reports that a young man had been stabbed in the street.
Paramedics battled to save the victim, named locally and by British media as Yassin Alama, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have launched a manhunt for 17-year-old Oumar Traore, who has been named as wanted on suspicion of being involved in the killing. Investigators say Traore fled immediately after the attack. A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender as officers step up efforts to trace the teenager.
Detective Inspector Jenny Birch from the force’s homicide team described the stabbing as a “shocking and violent attack in the street” and urged the suspect to surrender himself. She said Alama’s family were “absolutely devastated” and promised that police would “do everything in our power” to bring those responsible to justice.
As part of the manhunt, West Midlands Police have used enhanced stop-and-search powers under Section 60 across several neighbourhoods, allowing officers to carry out broader searches in designated areas for a limited period.
Members of Birmingham’s Sudanese community said Alama, who came to the UK as part of the diaspora, was known as a polite and well-behaved young man. Community figures warned that the killing formed part of a worrying pattern of knife crime and street violence involving young people in the city, fuelling fears about public safety.
Local media, citing police statistics, say Birmingham has one of the higher crime rates in England when measured per head of population, adding pressure on city authorities to find new ways to tackle youth violence and prevent further tragedies.
Police have appealed for witnesses and anyone with CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage from around Hutton Road at the time of the incident to contact detectives, stressing that information can also be provided anonymously.
