DORCHESTER — A quiet pre-dawn hour erupted in violence on Ellington Street early this morning after a man was stabbed in the chest, leaving him bleeding heavily as police swarmed the block.

Boston Police rushed to the scene just after 4 a.m. and quickly stopped a possible suspect while EMTs raced to save the victim’s life, according to live scanner reports. The wounded man was rushed into an ambulance as blood pooled on the pavement.

The shocking attack has rattled the Dorchester neighborhood, where residents were jolted awake to flashing blue lights and sirens ripping down the street.

Cops locked down the area as detectives probed the scene, while neighbors peered from windows in disbelief.

This latest burst of knife violence underscores the city’s spiraling street crime — even as Mayor Michelle Wu insists Boston is “the safest major city in America.”

Mass Daily News will continue tracking this developing story.