A murder investigation has been launched after a 52-year-old woman and her 21-year-old nephew were shot dead in north London on Thursday morning.
Paramedics from the London ambulance service called police to a road in East Finchley at 6.25am after responding to reports of two people with gunshot wounds.
An LAS spokesperson said: “We sent three ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic and an incident response officer to the scene. We also dispatched London’s air ambulance.”
Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene, Scotland Yard said. Police said there were no other injuries. Detectives from the Metropolitan police’s homicide and major crime command are investigating. There have been no arrests and police are appealing for witnesses.
On Thursday afternoon, several dozen grieving relatives, friends and members of the wider Congolese community gathered by a police cordon on Elmshurst Crescent, a quiet council estate, to pay their respects to the people killed, who were named locally as Anny Basala Ekofo, a mother of nine, and Bervil Ekofo.
Francine Ekofo said she understood that her brother had been asleep when he was shot. Her aunt was shot when she answered the door to the killers, she said, adding that it was a case of mistaken identity.
“Apparently one of the family members was looking for somewhere to stay for the next few nights, because he knew something was going to happen,” she said, adding that this person had then disappeared. “A couple of days after that, this happened.”
Francine Ekofo said her brother, a second-year psychology student at the University of West London, had never been in trouble, “not even in school”. Bervil Ekofo’s mother, Maymie Botanba, was also among the mourners by the cordon. “Where’s my son? Where’s my Bervil? Where’s my best friend,” she cried.
A family friend among the mourners, who preferred not to be named, said Bervil Ekofo had been visiting his aunt and cousins when he was killed. The rest of the family were at the police station on Thursday, answering questions, she said. It is unclear how many people were at the property at the time.
“Bervil was not the target. Bervil just came to see them and unfortunately that’s what happened, but I really don’t know the rest,” she said. Many other family members were at home at the time, she said, most of whom had been taken to the police station, although others may have been in hospital. “Bervil’s dad, he’s in pieces, he can’t even talk,” she added.
Catherine Moffitt, 56, a neighbour, described what she saw just before 6.30am. “About 12 cars were down this morning, about two ambulances, police running down the road with their blue gloves on. Some people did hear gunshots, but I didn’t,” she said.
“I thought we were under siege, I really did. This has never happened down this road, it’s a lovely, little, quiet estate.”
Throughout the day, mourners sat or stood near the cordon, talking, crying and comforting one another. Another family friend, who gave his name as Dominic, said Anny Basala Ekofo would have been getting ready to go shopping at the market, as she did every Thursday.
Esperance Luhymber, 50, said Anny Basala Ekofo, who had seven sons and two daughters, came to live in Britain 26 years ago. “She was a very, very nice lady,” she said. “Calm, doesn’t talk too much.”
At 3pm, news spread among those assembled that the coroner had arrived to take away the bodies of the victims. They gathered at the edge of the cordon as the plain, black van pulled up to the entrance to the block.
Before officials could begin their work, Anny Basala Ekofo’s sister and Botanba rushed through the cordon to try to get closer to their loved ones, only to be intercepted by police.
“Basala, Basala, wake up,” cried her sister. More family members came forward to comfort them as officers formed a line to prevent the mourners from advancing any further.
The crowd stayed to watch as the bodies were taken from the block. Asked why they remained, Bridget Lita, 50, who grew up in the same village as Anny Basala Ekofo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said: “It’s our culture. To us, she’s our sister.”
