Residents of a tower block reported seeing blood in their building
19:28, 02 Jan 2026Updated 20:28, 02 Jan 2026
Police cars and a forensics van were spotted in the area(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A knifeman is on the loose after a stabbing in a student tower block this afternoon. Emergency services, including armed police, were called to a stabbing at an address on Erskine Street in Kensington, at around 2.55pm today (January 2).
The road is on the border of Kensington, Islington and Liverpool city centre. Merseyside Police said a man in his 30s has been taken to hospital with serious injuries to his neck and head. The force has launched an investigation to find the attacker.
A cordon was set up outside an entrance to the True Student accommodation building on Erskine Street, leading to the junction of Prospect Street and Harper Street.
Armed police were in attendance and the force asked members of the public to avoid the area. At 5.20pm, uniformed officers, forensics and men in suits, who appeared to be detectives, were spotted inside the building on the ground floor with another cordon placed in front of the reception desk.
Merseyside Police on Prospect Street/Harper Street by the True Student Liverpool accommodation building(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Residents of True Student were told to use one of the other entrances to get in. Two men, who both live inside the building, told the ECHO they heard noises earlier this afternoon.
One of them, who asked not to be named, said: “I heard shouting and screaming from somewhere. Then I saw loads of police vans arriving. There’s blood in the reception area, it’s scary, it’s f***ed up man. The whole True Student group chat is talking about it.”
The cordon was brought down and police left the scene at 6pm.
Two hours earlier, a number of armed police officers and a dog unit were stationed on Leeds Street in the city centre, by the entrance to the YMCA, at 4.05pm, with a police helicopter hovering above. This is a 10 minute drive from Erskine Street.
Merseyside Police confirmed it was connected to the Erskine Street stabbing. Police parked up at the junction with Vauxhall Road before leaving at 4.50pm.
The same police helicopter was spotted hovering over Phythian Park in Kensington.
A man who lives on a street nearby said an air ambulance had landed in the park earlier that afternoon. He said: “They landed at about 3.30pm, got out and went (towards Fielding Street). The ambulance was in the park for about 45 minutes and then took off.”
Armed police and dog unit on Leeds Street Liverpool, in connection with stabbing on Erskine Street(Image: Liverpool Echo)
It is not known whether the air ambulance was connected to the stabbing.
Chief Inspector Gillian Kearns said: “We are in the early stages of this investigation and armed officers will remain in the area whilst we establish the circumstances of this incident.
“The use of knives or any weapons is incredibly dangerous and will not be tolerated on our streets.
“I would like to reassure residents that all such incidents are taken extremely seriously and if you live in the area or have any information, please come forward and tell us what you know.”
Phythian Park in Kensington, where residents spotted seeing an air ambulance land earlier in the afternoon(Image: Liverpool Echo)
You can contact the police via X @MerPolCC or on Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’.
You can also report information via the website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or call 101 quoting incident reference 478 of Friday, January 2.
Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via the website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.
In an emergency always call 999.