East Croydon stabbing victim Louis Johnson 'felt he had become walking target' before his death

A 16-year-old who was killed at a busy south London train station felt he had become a walking target before his death, his friends said.

Louis Johnson, 16, was ambushed after being lured to a bridge over platforms at East Croydon at about 4.45pm on Monday.

He was killed in a violent attack lasting 40 seconds, said police who arrested a youth from Balham on suspicion of murder early today.

Police are now questioning a 16-year-old boy over the stabbing .

Louis, who lived in South Norwood, was travelling home to his mother after attending a Youth Offending Team meeting in Battersea.

Friends said the teenager felt he had become a “walking target” after surviving another attempt on his life earlier that day.

According to them, Louis had been excluded from school and was attending a Pupil Referral Unit in Wandsworth.

They fear he may have become caught up in a “postcode war” between rival gangs.

It was reported that YOT workers had told him take a taxi home.

Youth worker Marlon Sampson said Louis had been working towards achieving a construction qualification at Croydon College when he saw him just before Christmas.

The 36-year-old had worked with the teenager for about a year at his Walking With Giants drop-in centre.

He told the Standard: “He was always polite, respectful and really shy, when he talked to you could tell he was taking on board everything you were saying.

“When I went down there I heard it was Louis, I just thought it’s such a waste.”

Louis is the first teenager to be killed in the capital in 2020.

British Transport Police Chief Inspector Mark Lawrie said: “We are pursuing strong lines of enquiry and have CCTV footage at the scene.”

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Pictured: Boy, 16, killed at London train station as teen is arrested