A seven-year-old girl is in hospital with life-threatening injuries following a suspected shooting outside a north London memorial, the Metropolitan Police have reported.
A second child, a 12-year-old girl, was taken to hospital with a minor leg wound but has since been released.
Officers also said three women – aged 48, 54 and 41 – have been taken to hospital following the Saturday afternoon incident in Phoenix Road, close to Euston station.
Detectives said it happened near a church, where a memorial was being held for a mother and daughter who died within days of each other. Officers said the shots are believed to have been fired from a moving vehicle.
The woman’s injuries are not considered life-threatening, but the 48-year-old suffered a potentially life-changing injury. Police later said a 21-year-old woman was also in hospital, but they were awaiting updates on her condition.
No arrests have yet been made. Supt Ed Wells of the Met police said: “Any shooting incident is unacceptable, but for several people, including two children, to be injured in a shooting in the middle of a Saturday afternoon is shocking.
“Our thoughts are with all the victims, but in particular with the seven-year-old girl who is in mortal danger and with her family.”
Father Jeremy Trood led the joint service at St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church to celebrate the lives of mother and daughter, Fresia Calderon, 50, and Sara Sanchez, 20.
They died within 25 days of each other late last year — Calderon of a blood clot after flying back to London from Colombia, and Sanchez, who was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in May 2020, died soon after, according to MyLondon who interviewed Sanchez in April 2022.
Sanchez, her mother and her younger brother had traveled to Colombia last year to see family and friends for a “final goodbye” after she went into remission but relapsed twice. Private treatment for which the City and Islington College student raised more than £30,000 on a GoFundMe page also failed.
The family had arrived back in London when Calderon collapsed in front of her children and died at the airport on November 5, 2022.
Trood said he had just finished the requiem mass for the service when he heard gunshots outside the church as mourners began to leave.
“They started running back into the church after the incident,” he said, describing the shock of those present. Our prayers go out to those in hospital.
Jaouida Ifghallal, who attended the service and said Sanchez was her son’s girlfriend, described how the occupants of a black car opened fire on people in an interview with MyLondon.
“We all came out of the church, dressed in white, about to release some pigeons. And the shooting happened while we were waiting for it.
“I didn’t see the car coming, but there was a big explosion. I only remember a woman who fell to the floor and panicked as people came out of the church.”
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, who is also an MP for the area, reacted to Saturday’s shooting on Twitter saying he was “deeply shocked” and thanked emergency services for their response.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the incident was “deeply distressing” and expressed support for the injured and their families.
I am deeply shocked by the shooting in Euston and would like to thank the emergency services for their response. My thoughts are with the victims.
Anyone with information should call 101 using the reference 3357/14JAN or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Wells added: “An investigation is already underway into this horrific attack involving local officers and specialist detectives. I can assure the communities of Camden and beyond that we will do everything we can to identify and bring those responsible to justice.”
Witnesses or anyone with information about the incident has been asked to call the emergency number 101 with the reference 3357/14JAN.
Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers via 0800 555 111.
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