A friend today paid tribute to a university student who was shot and stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack and said he was in “the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Russell Jones, 23, was ambushed outside shops near Ponders End station, Enfield, at 12.40am on Saturday.

He was found collapsed with knife injuries and a suspected gunshot wound and pronounced dead at the scene half an hour later.

Today, Jordon Welsh, who attended Lea Valley High School with Mr Jones, described him as “bubbly” and “humble”.

He said: “Russell was a kind, loving guy and very humble in school. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mr Jones, who is believed to have been in his final weeks at the University of Hertfordshire, was in South Street with a friend, also 23, when four hooded suspects attacked them. His friend was also stabbed but not seriously injured.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge, who is leading the murder investigation, described the attack as “totally unprovoked”, with an “utterly deplorable” level of violence.

He said: “Whilst the attack itself only took minutes to carry out, I want to hear from members of the public who may have seen them in the area before the attack, or afterwards when they fled towards Sandhurst Road.”

There have been no arrests and inquiries are continuing.

Mr Jones’s death was one of eight killings in the capital since Wednesday last week.

Tributes were paid today to “caring” father of two Tyrone Silcott, 42, who died from knife wounds on Sunday morning after a St Patrick’s Day party. The car mechanic was attacked outside a friend’s house in Homerton at 8.45am, allegedly in a row over two girls at the party.

Mr Silcott, who worked at the Mr Clutch car garage in Leyton, had two daughters, aged four and seven.

Employer Michael Wood, 44, said: “He was the hardest worker here. I have told five or six customers about what happened and they all left with tears streaming down their faces. That says a lot about him.”

A man, 28, has been charged with his murder and was due to appear before magistrates today.

In another case, two men have been charged with the murder of 48-year-old Balbir Johal from Slough, who died of a stab wound in Southall on Monday.

Hassan Mohammed, 23, of Southall, and Yassin Yussuf, 21, of no fixed abode, were due to appear today at Ealing magistrates’ court.

Detectives are still appealing for information about the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man in the Stratford Centre in east London on Tuesday.

He has been named locally as Romanian Beniamin Pieknyi, from Milton Keynes.

The victim was chased through the shopping centre by a gang before being stabbed. There have been no arrests.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.