Police vowed to tackle the violence on London’s streets today after a week of bloodshed saw seven killings in seven days.
Commander Dave McLaren told the Standard families were suffering “irreplaceable loss” and his priority was to catch those responsible.
The Met said the killings were not thought to be connected but they fuelled concern about an upsurge in street violence as lockdown is eased.
Peter Petrou was stabbed to death near a busy high street in Kilburn at 10.30pm on Thursday.
Mr Petrou, 37, was attacked in Victoria Road, off Kilburn High Road. Police found him collapsed next to the side entrance of a McDonald’s.
Six hours after Mr Petrou’s killing, another man in his thirties was fatally stabbed during a fight among four men in Lytton Avenue, Enfield. He was driven to North Middlesex Hospital where he died of a single stab wound.
Billy McCullagh, 27, was shot dead outside a wake in Harlesden at 3am on Thursday. Two men, aged 19 and 24, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Ahmed Yasin-Ali, 18, was stabbed to death in a car park by Harrow Road in Maida Hill on Wednesday at 12.30am.
Dean Edwards, 43, was shot in the back of the head as he returned from a night out at a pub in Penge in the early hours last Sunday.
Mixed Martial Arts champion Jahreau Shepherd was stabbed to death at his 30th birthday party on the Black Prince Estate, Kennington, at 10pm the day before.
The previous night, Muhammed Samir Uddin, 19, was fatally stabbed outside Crossharbour DLR station in Poplar.
Commander McLaren, of the Met’s Specialist Crime unit, said: “We are absolutely committed to tackling violence in all its forms across London, including homicide. Specialist detectives are working incredibly hard to find those responsible.”
