Inside the bloody turf struggle tearing Woolwich aside: Map exhibits vicious postcode gang rivalry that led to machete homicide of 14-year-old schoolboy Keylan Bokassa in broad daylight on the quantity 472 bus
The machete murder of schoolboy Kelyan Bokassa on the number 472 bus in broad daylight in front of horrified passengers is the latest in a bloody gang turf war that has torn apart the community of Woolwich.
Described by his mother as a polite boy who was groomed from a young age by a drugs gang, 14-year-old Kelyan was knifed 12 times on the double decker bus on Tuesday afternoon.
Terrified witnesses told of seeing two baby-faced young men sprinting from the atrocity, one armed with a machete ‘as long as your forearm’.
Just 24 hours earlier an 18-year-old college student was left fighting for his life after being stabbed less than a mile away.
And MailOnline can reveal that Kelyan’s senseless murder came as he was still mourning the death of his close friend DaeJaun Campbell, 15, who was stabbed to death by a zombie knife-wielding assassin.
Kelyan’s murder has shone a light on the postcode turf war that has turned this pocket of south-east London into a battleground.
On the notorious Barnfield estate where Keylan lived with his mother, the Wildbatch gang operates. An area to the south, close to Woolwich Dockyard is controlled by their bitter rivals the WoolyO gang.
Keylan, an aspiring drill rapper who performed under the nom de gerre ‘Grippa’, had links to Wildbatch.
Kelyan Bokassa (pictured) was stabbed in front of horrified passengers on a route 472 bus in Woolwich at around 2.30pm on Tuesday
Kelyan’s death comes less than four months after the murder of another teenager – Daejaun Campbell, 15 (pictured) – who was also fatally stabbed in Woolwich in September last year
He had just released a track – called Bangers & Mash – on Christmas Day.
In the music video he pretended to wave a knife in the air as he raps about ‘pigs’ – slang for the police – gangs, guns, ‘swords’ and ‘getting popped’.
Around an hour before he was killed, the schoolboy posted a haunting message on Instagram asking any of his followers if they had a ‘mindi’ – the Somali word for knife.
Now we can reveal that on Friday he was due to appear before magistrates accused of carrying a machete into Ravensbourne College. In his latest brush with the law, he was charged with charged with possession of a weapon in a public place.
Keylan’s devastated mother, Mary Bokassa, wept on Wednesday as she blamed gangs for grooming her ‘kind and caring’ son during a spell when he was living rough on the streets after running away from a care home in Kent.
Keylan’s friend DaeJaun died a mile and a half away just over three months ago. As his life ebbed away, he cried out ‘I’m 15, don’t let me die.’
Three teenagers, Jacob Losiewicz, 18, Marko Balaz, also 18 and a 17-year-old youth have been charged with Daejaun’s murder.
Touched by his friend’s death, Kelyan posted a photograph on his Instagram account of a candlelit shrine filled with flowers that had been set up close to where Daejuan was stabbed with a zombie knife on Eglinton Road, Woolwich on September 22.
Kelyan (pictured) was an aspiring gangster rapper named online as ‘Grippa’
An image from the scene after Kelyan was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich
Pictured is Kelyan’s heartbroken mother, Mary Bokassa holding a picture of her son
Kelyan previously shared a picture of Daejaun on Instagram with the tribute: ‘#Longliveboogz I still can’t believe it’s you man rest in peace.’
The spot is close to the notorious Barnfield estate near Woolwich Common, where Wildbatch is based. Their rivals, WoolyO, are based near the Woolwich Docks.
Both gangs are said to be vying for control over the local drugs trade – particularly crack-cocaine and cannabis – and have both formed alliances with gangsters from nearby areas.
According to sources familiar with the street gang culture in south east London, Wildbatch are linked with the Zone 2 gang of Peckham as well as TG who are based in Plumstead Common. WoolyO, meanwhile, have formed connections with GS28, who are based in neighbouring Thamesmead and Parkside, who are based out in Belvedere.
Despite having millions of pounds worth of regeneration invested in Woolwich over the last decade, the area has been unable to shake off its criminal underbelly and stabbings have become a regular occurrence.
On Monday afternoon – just 24-hours before Kelyan’s horrific murder – an 18-year-old was rushed to hospital after being stabbed at Shooter’s Hill Sixth Form College in Woolwich.
He remains in a critical condition following the attack, which police are not linking to Kelyan’s death.
Last May, mobile phone footage emerged of a man being stabbed with a huge machete outside the Pure Gym in Woolwich.
The disturbing clip showed two men wearing black trying to steal a bag from a man in a white T-shirt with one of the men pulling out the blade and slashing at the leg of the victim, who was then stomped on by a second attacker as he lay in the foetal position on the ground.
Kelyan was an aspiring musician, who filmed videos under the street name ‘Grippa’
In July 2021, 15-year-old Tamim Ian Habimana (pictured) was killed outside Woolwich Arsenal station by a gang who had travelled in into the area by train
A forensic officer is seen holding a weapons tube used to collect evidence while on board the bus – January 7, 2025
Before Kelyan was knifed to death he posted on Instagram, asking if any of his followers had a ‘mindy’. This is believed to be in reference to the word ‘mindi’, which is Somalian for ‘knife’
Kelyan is pictured with his mother, Mary, during a trip to the beach as a young boy
Tributes have poured in for the young musician named ‘Grippa’ with devastated friends on social media saying he was ‘taken too soon’
A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with a non-life threatening stab wound.
A few weeks after that incident, a vicious knife fight was caught on camera outside a Footlocker store in Woolwich High Street. Onlookers blamed local gangs for the carnage.
In July 2021, 15-year-old Tamim Ian Habimana was killed outside Woolwich Arsenal station by a gang who had travelled in into the area by train.
He was stabbed in the heart by youths who had come from Dartford in Kent looking to avenge a friend of theirs who had been stabbed and injured nine days previously.
Tamim had not been the attacker but he was approached by a 16-year-old old boy who pulled out a zombie knife and stabbed him. The teenager was convicted of wounding, possession of an offensive weapon and conspiracy to commit violent disorder.
A 17-year-old boy was convicted of having an offensive weapon and conspiracy to commit violent disorder.
Much of Woolwich’s gang war has its roots in one of London’s most notorious criminal networks who set up in the area.
The Woolwich Boys were a huge gang said to be comprised of more than 300-members, mainly those with a Somali background, who formed at the end of the 1990s.
Two police officers stand in front of a police cordon on Woolwich Church Road where the teenager was stabbed to death on Tuesday
Police guard a cordon after a teenager was fatally stabbed on a London bus on Tuesday, January 7, 2025
A police officer walks past a bus stop on Woolwich Church Road in Woolwich after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death on a bus
An air ambulance arrived at the scene but unfortunately the boy was declared dead by paramedics at the scene
They transformed from a low-level street crime gang to a well-structured criminal organisation involved in drug trafficking and contract killing.
Gangsters with the Woolwich Boys are said to have terrorised, robbed and even killed drug rivals using meat cleavers and AK-47s.
However, due to increased police surveillance, the gang started concentrating their efforts on running County Lines drug operations outside London. Several gang members were arrested in dawn swoops in Gillingam, Kent in 2013.
According to gangland folklore, the gang was decimated further when 20 of its members died fighting for ISIS in Syria, including Abdullah Hassan, who was filmed boasting of wanting to kill British and western soldiers.
