A murder inquiry was under way today after a young man was shot dead at a block of flats in south London.
The 25-year-old victim was blasted in the chest on a third-floor walkway on a housing estate in West Norwood at about 4pm yesterday. Medics and bystanders battled to save him but he died at the scene 30 minutes later.
It is the 30th killing and the first fatal shooting in London this year.
Witnesses told how neighbours rushed from their homes on the Hainthorpe estate to try to save the victim as he lay bleeding. One resident said: “My wife was at home with her eight-year-old and was the one who gave him CPR. It is very traumatic for her.” Another added: “He had a bullet wound to the chest and they were trying to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding.”
One report said the man had been chased up to the third floor before being shot. Residents said the area had become more dangerous because of drug dealing and violence. One said: “People all rallied around to help, some were trying CPR, it was very distressing. The area has got worse but for someone to be shot dead is horrific.”
A mother of five boys who lives nearby said: “It’s a nightmare. We are losing a generation of young black men. Every time my boys go out I’m scared they won’t come back. There is nothing for some of these young people. We are living in bad times.”
Two young men arrested at the scene were being questioned at separate south London police stations today. It is not known if a gun was recovered.
Police also ordered Section 60 search powers to be imposed in the area in an attempt to prevent retaliatory attacks.
Forensic science officers were last night checking a grey Mercedes car parked near the scene.
In January, a 16-year-old boy was seriously injured in a separate shooting outside his family home about a mile away in Unity Close, and in November two men were shot and injured in a drive-by attack in nearby Gypsy Hill.
Lambeth council’s cabinet member for safety Mo Seedat said he was “appalled” by the latest attack.
As the number of shootings in London rises, the Met yesterday seized guns, grenades, drugs and stolen cars near a farm in South Ockendon, Essex. A 31-year-old man was arrested.
In a separate incident a 19-year-old man was stabbed in Romford Road, Newham at 12.50am today. His condition in hospital was not life-threatening.
