A spate of shootings and stabbings in London has prompted additional police patrols on the capital’s streets over the bank holiday weekend.
Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, 17, was fatally shot on Warham Street, south London on Saturday. The attack took place in daylight, just after 6pm, and police are appealing for information.
The following day, a 15 year old was shot in the head with shotgun pellets in Wealdstone, north-west London, Harrow Police said. Another teenager, aged 13, was found with a wound to the head on the same street minutes later. He had been walking with his parents at the time of the attack, and has since been discharged from hospital. A man was arrested on Sunday in connection with the two Harrow attacks and has been released “under investigation.”
"It would appear that the first victim was approached by two male suspects, one in possession of a shotgun – and shots were fired, injuring him and an entirely innocent member of the public,” Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Rose said.
Also on Sunday, a 22-year-old man was found with gunshot wounds in New Cross Road, south-east London. He was taken to hospital and his condition is not believed to be life-threatening.
Meanwhile, a 43-year-old man was stabbed in Perivale on Sunday, and two men in their 20s were injured in a suspected acid attack in Shacklewell Lane, Hackney.
“The violence used has rightly caused concern and we are doing all we can to address this,” DCS Simon Messinger said of the spate of attacks. “Over the Bank Holiday weekend, additional officers are on the streets across the capital, working hard to keep London safe. They are using highly visible local patrols supported by armed response, traffic motorcycles, dog units, and air support – alongside plain clothes intelligence-led operations.”
There have been more than 60 alleged murders in London so far this year, and homicides have jumped by 38 percent since 2014, the Sunday Times reports.
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