Three people have been shot dead in six days in separate killings in London.
The most recent was a 22-year-old man who was gunned down at around 9.30pm on Sunday in Wood Green, north London.
Police including armed officers were called to High Road near Wood Green Tube station where they gave the victim first aid.
Despite treatment by medics from the land and air ambulance, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 10pm. His family have been told.
Gulcan Ilhan, 36, who regularly visits Wood Green to help her brother run his shop said: “It’s not safe. I could be walking to a shop and god forbid there’s a shooting.
“No one feels safe to walk down the road”.
Less than 24 hours earlier, another man, 28-year-old Sam Brown, was fatally shot in Cheney Row Park, Waltham Forest, east London at about 12.30am on Sunday.
He was taken to hospital but later died.
Locals said they had been expecting trouble when a group of up to 100 people gathered in Cheney Row Park.
One man, who did not want to be named, said: “I did see earlier more and more kids showing up so we thought… there would be a fight.”
A second man was taken to hospital at the same time as Mr Brown with stab injuries. He was later discharged and arrested “in connection with the incident”, the Metropolitan Police said.
The two fatal shootings follow another killing in the early hours of Tuesday July 19, when a 26-year-old man was shot in Bruckner Street, Queen’s Park, west London.
Seven people were arrested over the death and later released under investigation.
This number of fatal gun deaths in less than a week is unusual in London.
Up until July 19, there had been no firearms killings in the English capital since October 31 last year.
In 2021, there were 12 fatal shootings among a total of 134 homicides recorded by the Metropolitan Police.
Earlier this year, in April, the force said it had seen a reduction in gun crime, with the number of all shootings, including fatal and non-fatal, down from from 283 in 2019/20 to 196 in 2021/22.
A spokesperson for mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The mayor’s thoughts are with the families and communities who have been affected by violence in the last few days. He is clear that one death is one too many, with every death leaving lives destroyed, families heartbroken and communities hurting.
“Sadiq is in regular contact with the police who are working on relevant tactics and operations to arrest and suppress further escalations. If anyone has any information about any of these or any other violent crime, they can ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. There is no honour in staying silent.
“Tackling violence and making our city safer is Sadiq’s top priority and he is committed to being both tough on crime and tough on the complex causes of crime. Thanks to the hard work of the police and prevention and early intervention work led by London’s Violence Reduction Unit, supported by record investment from City Hall, violent crime has been falling since before the pandemic, with gun crime, knife crime and teenage murders significantly down.
“Despite progress, the level of violence remains too high and the mayor will continue to work closely with the police and community groups across London to provide them with the resources they need to help protect Londoners and make our communities safer.”
