The person who stabbed a teenager on Christmas Tree Lane is still on the lose. Deputies believe Tuesday night's the attack was gang related.
Every year thousands of people get bundled up and walk Christmas Tree Lane. Families enjoy the lights and decorations, but on Tuesday night the holiday tradition turned into a crime scene.
Cell phone video captured the horrifying scene on Tuesday night. A 17-year-old moaned in pain after being stabbed. Hundreds of families were close by, one man called 9-1-1.
He told the dispatcher, "Griffith and Van Ness. Christmas Tree Lane. Gang of kids all in red hats. Someone on the ground right now."
The Sheriff's Department says bystanders stepped in to help. The teen was bleeding from his stomach. The man who called 9-1-1 described the scene. "We have people applying pressure. Stab wounds in the abdomen."
Minutes later, emergency crews arrived and loaded him into the ambulance, his attacker was long gone. Alberto Franco doesn't live far from Christmas Tree Lane. He still can't believe the holiday tradition turned into a crime scene.
Franco says, "It's kind of sad. It's supposed to be one time of year where everyone is supposed to be together. People are stabbing each other instead. Next to the nativity scene no less."
Investigators believe the stabbing was gang related. The teenager underwent surgery and is in stable condition.
Deputies are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 498- STOP.
TXT 24
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