Four Shootings In London During Weekend Of Bloodshed In Capital

One dead and three in hospital during spate of violence.
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Police at Palmerston Road, in Wealdstone, in north west London, after two boys, aged 12 and 15, were shot at two locations in close proximity.
PA Wire/PA Images

London’s bank holiday weekend has been marred by violence after four shootings in the capital in less than 24 hours.

The latest flashpoint happened in south east London when a 22-year-old man was shot in New Cross Road, Lewisham, at around 6.30pm on Sunday. He is not thought to be in a life-threatening condition. 

Elsewhere in the capital, two boys, aged 13 and 15, were shot in Wealdstone, north west London.

Police were called just minutes apart to the shootings at two locations in close proximity in High Street, at around 1.15pm on Sunday.

Both boys have been taken to hospital suffering head injuries but neither was thought to be in a life-threatening condition, Scotland Yard said.

He was discovered with critical injuries on Warham Street after officers were called to reports of gunshots on nearby Cooks Road shortly after 6pm.

The incident comes as the Metropolitan Police investigates more than 60 alleged murders so far this year in London. 

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Police at the junction of Palmerston Road and the High Street.
PA Wire/PA Images

In Wealdstone, the 13-year-old had a shotgun pellet wound. Asked if the incidents were linked, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said that was one line of inquiry.

No arrests have been made and no firearm has been recovered, police said.

Palmerston Road, just off Wealdstone High Street, was blocked off with police tape and manned by uniformed officers.

A grey adidas sweatshirt with blood stains on the hood lay crumpled on the ground outside a Specsavers store along with a police exhibit number.

A shopkeeper said the youngster was “lucky to be alive” and they believe a bullet grazed the back of his head.

The manager of a betting shop, who did not give his name, said he was passing by on his lunch break and saw people gathered outside Specsavers around a black man on the ground.

He said: “He was holding his head down. I could not see his face but could see his white t-shirt was proper covered in blood.

“He was sitting calmly as the paramedics were looking after him.”

He described Wealdstone as a “kind of rough area and it can be a bit aggressive”.

He added that “seeing police around here is just another day” and he was used to seeing boys “just hanging around” in the street.

A green first aid bag could be seen behind the cordon as forensics officers took photographs and passers-by were diverted from the scene.

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Peter Nicholls / Reuters

The mother of Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton - was shot dead in Southwark - made a plea for the shootings to stop.

Pretana Morgan told reporters near her home in the Brandon Estate: “We do not need this. We cannot be doing this all the time, teenagers you need to stop please.

“Enjoy your life, your youth, get knowledge in your head, get wisdom and knowledge.

“You only have one life, you better make use of it.”

She said her “very handsome boy” had “got so much potential”, and said he had gone to her home country of Jamaica last summer after a threat in London, and had just returned to the capital in February.

Tearfully, she said he had been “trying to make a difference” by learning to work with children.

“This is not life. My son’s a good boy,” she said.

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