Jayden Ashton, 21, who works at London Shell Co in Swain’s Lane, Highgate, was on shift when a fight started in the street outside, culminating in a stabbing in Superette’s grocery next door.
He said he did not wish to talk about what he witnessed.
Jayden’s boss at the fishmonger and restaurant, Harry Lobek, described how he went to the aid of the victim after his distraught girlfriend burst in to get help.
Jayden told the Ham&High these were scenes he expects in south London, not in streets near Hampstead Heath.
He said: “I live in Kent, 20 minutes from Croydon. You hear about these things there, you don’t expect it here, not in this area.
He said there were “so many police” adding: “Things are getting a lot worse. More and more now when I’m driving around Croydon you see people with hoods and balaclavas and it’s 20 degrees outside.
“What happened here is not called for, it’s not needed, it makes you feel slightly unsafe.”
