Support truly
independent journalism
A family fun day with DJs, Caribbean food, face-painting and carnival games turned to tragedy as a 15-year-old boy was shot dead near horrified children and parents.
Gunshots punctured the joyful atmosphere with some unable to distinguish it from the blaring Soca carnival music erupting from sound systems at the packed warm-up event to Notting Hill Carnival next month.
Others fled in panic describing hearing multiple gunshots on Sunday evening as hundreds were gathered for the “Park Lime” Caribbean food and music event at Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance near Hazlewood Crescent.
Witnesses said families fled in all different directions at around 7.20pm as the free Lime Park event was winding down.
Metropolitan Police later found schoolboy Rene Graham with fatal injuries.
“Despite the best efforts of the emergency services he was pronounced dead at the scene,” a statement read.
Four men, two aged 21 and the others aged 20 and 25, were arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in custody at this time.
Forensic officers and sniffer dogs were seen trawling the streets around the park on Monday, while several checkpoints had been set up marshalling people in and out of the restricted area.
One man who lives just off the park described the “Lime Park” event shooting as “tragic”.
“I was just around the corner when the shots went off,” he said, asking not to be named. “There were multiple pops. It’s just tragic.”
One witness told The Standard: “I heard two bangs then the boy collapsed on the ground. It looked like he had been hit in the chest. There was sheer panic, everyone was running. The next thing there were sirens and police everywhere. It had been a nice event, no problems, then carnage.”
Heather Morris had been celebrating a six-year-old’s birthday party at the event as she does every year. She told the Independent: “The music was so loud but these gunshots were louder. I felt my hair stand up on end. I knew something bad happened.
“My friend grabbed her kids and ran out leaving the picnic. The crowd was surging out at the same time as me. I was pretty shaken up when I got home.
“That bullet could have hit anyone there were grandparents and babies all packed in there.”
Damian Ryan, 43, a priest at a church bordering the park, said he “wasn’t completely shocked” by the news. “I wasn’t in complete shock if I’m completely honest – heartbroken, utterly heartbroken, so saddened and maybe a bit of misplaced anger.
“Several months ago, there had been a murder… a couple of hundred yards away someone was murdered.”
Other residents expressed anger at the shooting in broad daylight in what is normally an area popular among children. It came the same month a 15-year-old boy “cried out in agony” after he was shot in the leg alongside another teenager less than a mile away in Verity Close, Ladbroke Grove on July 1.
The Met Police have not said if the latest shooting was linked to last month’s death on the square, formerly known as Teletubbies park due to the brightly coloured children’s play area is surrounded by primary schools.
On Monday one little girl walking with her mum was seen crying as she lamented that her favourite park is closed.
“I wanna go in,” the child said. “Not today,” the mother responded, rushing her three children away from the park.
A police cordon stretches around the park, but from one vantage point residents can still glimpse the aftermath of the incident.
Crumpled food wrappers and cans are still strewn across the park after the festival goers fled from the scene in a panic.
A children’s jungle gym sits empty on the park’s edge.
The majority of residents out in the area are frustrated by their inability to move around due to the cordon, which police say is likely to stay in place at least until til the end of the day.
Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said the shooting was “absolutely horrific and just awful for the family”.
When asked what the council is doing to reduce violence in the area, Ms Campbell said: “We do huge amounts.
“We have detached outreach teams working with the young, we have a huge amount of youth clubs, we have outstanding social work – so we do absolutely everything we can on our side as the council.”
The MP for Kensington and Bayswater, Joe Powell, described the attack as “horrific news” in a statement posted on X.
He wrote: “I’m aware of the horrific news that a young boy has been shot and killed in Golborne this evening – and my thoughts are with his family.
“These senseless acts of violence must stop.”
