Man held over London shooting that left 7-year-old critical
LONDON - London police said on Monday they had arrested a 22-year-old man following a shooting at a church.
Gunshots rang out at the church in Euston, central London, on Saturday afternoon. Mourners were leaving a requiem mass for a mother and daughter at the time of the incident.
“Detectives investigating the shooting outside a church in Euston have arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder,” Metropolitan Police said.
The man was arrested in Barnet, north of London, shortly before 4pm local time on Sunday and remains in custody, the Met added. Police believe the shots were fired from a moving vehicle which was then driven away from the scene.
The priest who conducted the service, Father Jeremy Trood, told the PA news agency it had been a requiem mass for Sara Sanchez, 20, and her mother, who both died within a month of each other in November.
The younger woman had succumbed to leukaemia while her mother died after suffering a blood clot on arrival at Heathrow from Colombia, the MyLondon news website reported.
“I heard this almighty bang and I thought this was not normal, and the next minute everyone was screaming and shouting,” a neighbour told PA.
At least six people were wounded in the incident, including a seven-year-old girl who was left fighting for her life. Another 12-year-old girl was discharged from hospital after treatment from minor leg injuries.
A 21-year-old woman is also in a central London hospital. Police said her injuries were not life-threatening.
Three other women aged 41, 48 and 54 remained in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, although the 48-year-old’s were “potentially life changing”, police said.
A witness told MyLondon the shots were fired as mourners who had attended the mass watched doves being released afterwards. - AFP
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