Police suspect racial motive in Liverpool ax killing6 \5 T3 X" h6 V$ n7 s3 {
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./ C( }0 u: _) U% v7 a/ A. x
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.
" a. a% R! K6 K9 [& Q 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.
U- g6 \; {1 m8 F6 B 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.- M$ ]: H. M4 H6 D4 ~6 ^
No arrests had been made in the attack.& n7 N! ?" I, t4 V$ W" p
"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.
, l+ f2 t+ p& A% C2 x8 N Police said several other incidents of racial abuse had been reported in the area recently. |