A Golf GTI owner has told of his shock at discovering a Range Rover parked atop his car after a reported drive-by shooting last night.
Police were called to reports of gunfire on a street in the leafy suburb of West Hampstead, north west London at around 7pm.
Armed officers arrived to find a Range Rover planted on top of a Golf GTI, tilted forward with its back wheels on the other vehicle's roof and its front doors and hood open.
Meanwhile, Golf owner Luke was attending a relative's Confirmation at a church down the road, returning over an hour later to find his parked car "pushed backwards by about eight feet".
He told the Mirror: "It is terrible. Coming back to find it like that was a bit of a shock."
Luke, aged in his mid-20s, continued: "When I walked back the road was closed and you couldn't get down there.
"Then I saw a Range Rover in the air where I thought my car was, which is not ideal.
"Witnesses were saying a moped or motorbike pulled in front of a Range Rover and started to shoot at it before the Range Rover whacked itself into reverse to get away. He must have fully powered up and gone onto my car.
"The person then apparently jumped out the Range Rover and ran away, then returned wearing a balaclava to clear out the holdalls, before running away again."
He said a policeman asked whether the car underneath belonged to him, before telling him: "You don't want to see it."
Luke, who then took a taxi to his home several miles away, added: "I only had the car for six months and it was what I always wanted. To see it look like that is quite sad.
"I did used to live there and parked around there for eight years, only to come back and visit for an hour and a half to see that happen.
"The police were saying that the Range Rover was stolen and on false plates, which won't help me from an insurance point of view."
Dramatic footage of the scene had earlier been posted to social media, with a resident captioning the post: "Heard a bang… KNEW it was a gunshot. Shooting at the top of my street! Day light. Scary."
She added: "It's very strange in for this area. Unsettling. I heard a gunshot and knew it was very close. Looked outside about 30mins later and there were police everywhere. Knives are one thing but guns…"
Enquiries are ongoing to establish whether a shooting occurred, said the Metropolitan Police.
No arrests have been made and the scene remains cordoned off. There are currently no reported injuries.
A force spokesman said: "Police were called shortly after 7pm on Thursday, June 23 to reports of a firearm discharge on Woodchurch Road, NW6.
"Officers, including firearms officers, attended and found a collision involving two vehicles. The occupants were not at the scene.
"At this stage, there are no reported injuries and enquiries remain ongoing to establish whether a firearm was discharged. A crime scene remains in place.
"There have been no arrests."
The probe follows a police appeal for information and witnesses in relation to another, separate shooting in the capital last week.
Emergency services were called at around 3.30am on June 18 after five men turned up at two hospitals in south London with gunshot and knife injuries.
The Met said: "It is believed that all five were injured during a disturbance close to Wandsworth Road, SW8 during which a shotgun was discharged."
It added: "Trident detectives from the Specialist Crime Command are leading the investigation and are working closely with their colleagues on the Central South Command Unit."
The two shooting reports come despite a recent fall in gun crime in London, with no deaths from shootings reported in the six months leading up to April this year.
In 2018, a total of 15 people were shot dead in the capital, followed by 14 in 2019 and 12 in 2021.
Deputy assistant commissioner, Graham McNulty, previously told The Guardian: "We are picking up that urban street gangs and organised crime groups in London are finding it difficult to source and move around firearms."
He added: “Gun crime in London is absolutely linked to gangs and drugs and the vast majority of victims and suspects are linked to that world.
"They are struggling to get lethal weapons and so are having to convert weapons (such as antique weapons and starting pistols) to be lethal … and manufacture the ammunition themselves."
