Det Supt Haskins first received the call about Max and Mason’s stabbing on a Sunday morning – the day after they were attacked at about 23:00 GMT on Saturday 27 January.
The boys had been knifed down in the street with machetes, just yards from Mason’s front door in Knowle West.
“I’m a human being, I’m a parent. These were two boys going about their business, just out being friends,” Det Supt Haskins said.
“They were attacked with probably some of the most horrific weapons I’ve ever seen in my career.”
The boys were murdered by four teenagers who were seeking revenge after a separate incident in Hartcliffe – which Max and Mason had absolutely nothing to do with.
On Thursday, Riley Tolliver, 18, and 17-year-old Kodishai Wescott were told they would each be detained for a minimum of 23 years.
A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were detained for life with minimum terms of 15 and 18 years respectively.
Anthony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, who drove the teenagers around Knowle West “hunting” for a victim to exact violence on, was sentenced last month to a minimum of 38 years in prison.
