Police were called at 02:10 on Saturday, August 26, to reports that a man had been assaulted outside a property on Francis Street in the Chapeltown area of the city. Emergency services attended the scene and the injured man was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
Detective Inspector Damian Roebuck from the Homicide and Serious Investigation Team said: ‘A young man has tragically lost his life and at this stage we do not know the motive for this attack. We are devoting significant resources to finding answers for his family and friends and ensuring the perpetrators are brought to justice for their actions.
‘Initial reports indicate that three to four people wearing ski masks were involved in sustained attacks on the victim. We need to identify these individuals and are asking residents to assist us in this task by providing information to the investigation team.
‘Anything you saw or heard in the area during this incident, or any information or rumors you may have heard about the people involved. Also, please check your doorbells and dashcam footage to see if you can see anything relevant.
‘We understand that this incident may have caused concern in the community, particularly with the Leeds West Indian Carnival taking place this weekend. This is currently being treated as an isolated incident. We are deploying specialist resources to investigate this man’s death and are increasing our neighbourhood policing presence in the area to reassure the community.
‘Yet again a young man has lost his life. I urge anyone in the community with any information, no matter how trivial it may seem, to report it.
Anyone with information or images is asked to contact the Homicide and Serious Incident Investigation Team by calling 101 Live Chat or 101 and quoting crime number 13230475319.
Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.