Four men have been convicted over a drive-by gangland shooting outside a central London church that left four women and two children injured.
A sawn-off shotgun was fired into a crowd of people who had been attending a memorial service at St Aloysius Church in Euston, on the afternoon of January 14 last year.
Four men, aged 20 to 24, were on Thursday convicted over the shooting.
They are Tyrell Lacroix, 23, of Dorman Way in St Johns Wood; Jashy Perch, 20, of Churchfields Road in Watford; Jordan Walter, 24, of Hilltop Avenue in Brent; and Alrico Nelson-Martin, 20, of Griffin Close in Brent.
Police and paramedics were called to the shooting, outside a church on Phoenix Road, around 1.30pm that day.
They found a shot had been fired from a car into the back of a crowd of people who had turned to watch doves being released from the church steps.
Four women and two girls were taken to hospital with injuries.
“One of the girls was left with a metal pellet embedded in a muscle close to her heart which will have an impact for the rest of her life,” said the Met police in a statement on Thursday.
“One of the women was left with serious injuries that have impacted her hearing and balance.”
The other victims have recovered from their injuries.
The car sped away from the shooting, which happened in a built-up area.
Police trawled through more than 2,000 hours of CCTV to track the car as it made its escape.
Video from a bus camera clearly showed the car, but officers found the car was using cloned number plates.
They tracked down the owner of the actual car and he was ruled out of the investigation after providing a credible alibi.
Around the same time officers received a tip-off, suggesting Tyrell Lacroix was involved in the shooting.
A phone investigation showed Lacroix had been in contact with two other men in the weeks before the attack.
Planning began two months before the shooting, in November 2022, when Lacroix found the black Toyota car that would be used in the drive-by.
Lacroix was part of a gang in north London and believed members of a rival gang would be at the memorial service.
Over the weeks that followed, he was in contact with Jordan Walters and Alrico Nelson Martin. Martin supplied the sawn-off shotgun.
Days before the shooting, in early January, Lacroix and Walters visited the church to survey the area. Detectives analysed phone location data to prove they were in the area together.
On the day of the shooting, on January 14, Lacroix and Walters were with a third man, Jashy Perch, at his home in Watford.
Taxi booking records later proved Martin had gone to the property at around midday to deliver the gun.
A short time later, Lacroix, Walters and Perch, travelled from Watford to Euston.
“They did a number of circuits outside the church before one of them opened fire into the crowd,” said the Met in a statement on Thursday.
“As the mourners were left scared for their lives, the group fled the scene.
“Officers, who are experts in CCTV recovery, obtained footage and tracked their five-mile getaway through north London.
“This showed them overtaking cars, driving on the wrong side of the road, and jumping a red light.”
At Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, Lacroix, Perch, Walter, and Nelson-Martin were convicted of conspiracy to wound with intent to cause serious harm.
Nelson-Martin was also convicted of possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life.
The men will be sentenced at the same court on April 12.
Police say enquiries continue, to identify a fourth man who was in the car at the time of the shooting.
Detective Inspector Darren Jones, from the Specialist Crime Trident Investigation team, said: "These dangerous men brought unimaginable fear and horror to the streets of London. I am pleased our investigation has resulted in them being convicted.
"They cowardly shot at mourners as they gathered outside a church. The innocent women and girls who were injured will have to deal with the impact of that for the rest of their lives.
"Our investigation has been extensive and complex. It involved recovering and viewing around 2,000 hours of CCTV and piecing together a significant amount of phone location data to identify those responsible.
"Our Specialist Crime Trident Investigation teams are committed to the Met’s mission to tackle violence against women and girls. This investigation demonstrates our relentless determination to identify dangerous offenders and bring them to justice."
