Police suspect racial motive in Liverpool ax killing
% C% _9 v, q9 R" l) X. z A black teenager who was followed through a park by a group of men shouting racist taunts died Saturday after an attacker embedded an ax in his skull.5 ?4 S2 q6 d( h7 C4 j5 q, O
Anthony Walker, 18, was waiting for a bus with his girlfriend and a cousin when a man started shouting racist taunts at them late Friday near Walker's home in Liverpool, police said.4 Y5 J( e2 h, @
The three left to find another bus stop to avoid any trouble, police said. But a group of three or four men followed them through a park, and Walker's companions saw someone bludgeon him with an ax.
0 S P8 F" l" } They ran to get help and returned a few minutes later to find him with the ax embedded in his skull, news reports said. Walker died early Saturday.
3 A' c2 N+ v5 F) V5 l; ], v5 @ No arrests had been made in the attack.
% v v: ^. s" c5 F" ?# ^ "What we are dealing with here is a vicious and unprovoked attack on a young black man which we believe to be racially motivated," said Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Currie, who was leading the investigation.# D$ |- v8 `2 v
Police said several other incidents of racial abuse had been reported in the area recently. |