15-year-old found stabbed to death in Rotterdam neighborhood

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the Rotterdam neighborhood of Beverwaard on Thursday afternoon. The critically injured boy was found lying in the bushes on Goedenraadweg with multiple stab wounds. He died at the scene.

Emergency services responded to Beverwaard at around 5:00 p.m., the police said in a statement. First responders tried to resuscitate the boy, but it was to no avail.

"What exactly happened, is unclear. What led to the stabbing is unknown, and no suspects have been arrested yet," the police said.

The boy was called Joshua, his stepfather told newspaper AD. "He asked his mother if he could go out just before dinner," the victim's stepfather said. "His mother was sitting on the balcony half an hour after he left and heard all kinds of sirens and a helicopter. Then you start thinking: surely not. When she tried to call him, he didn't answer."

The police are calling on witnesses to come forward. Forensic investigators did a trace evidence investigation at the scene. Police officers were talking to people in the neighborhood and requesting surveillance camera footage.