Two men have been killed and a third critically injured in a shooting in east London, the Metropolitan Police said. Officers were called to Henley Road in Ilford at around 12.15am on Tuesday morning following reports of a fight in progress and shots fired.
They found three men with gunshot injuries. One man in his 20s was pronounced dead at the scene, while another died a short time later. The third victim, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital and remains in critical condition.
The Met said officers believe they know the identity of the man in his 20s and work is ongoing to identify the other man killed in the shooting.
A woman who lives near the scene said the sounds of gunshots were masked by fireworks for the Hindu Diwali celebration. Shama Ahmad, 50, whose flat is just yards from where two men were shot, has been left “shaken” by the incident.
She said: “I live in a flat upstairs here, I heard some screaming, shouting, and I was a bit shaken by the screams but this is very common around by his area. I just looked from my window upstairs and the police and the helicopter above.
“There was fireworks going right in front of my flat so with the fireworks the shots weren’t heard at all. There was this celebration, Diwali thing, going on, and fireworks, so you couldn’t hear the shots. I live around the corner here and I’m a bit wary, me and my family are concerned about this.”
There have been no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing. Councillor Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge Council, called for more police as he spoke to reporters at the scene.
He said: “I think more police across the whole of the capital, these are numbers that have been cut over successive governments, we have to make sure we get the police here. We have been complaining about this in my role as London Councils lead on crime and community safety, I made that plea to the new Metropolitan Police commissioner only last week and he agrees that we need more police.”
He added: “I think sometimes these things build up over time and that’s where the police is needed to stop that building up over time and I think if we could get that we would be in a better place.”
