LONDON: London police said on Monday (Jan 16) they had arrested a 22-year-old man after a seven-year-old girl was left fighting for her life following a shooting as mourners left a church service.
Gunshots rang out at the church in Euston, central London, on Saturday afternoon as mourners were leaving a requiem mass for a mother and daughter.
“Detectives investigating the shooting outside a church in Euston have arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder,” Metropolitan Police said.
The man was arrested in Barnet, north of London, shortly before 4pm (Monday, 12am, Singapore time) on Sunday and remains in custody, the Met added.
Police believe the shots were fired from a moving vehicle which was then driven away from the scene.
The priest who conducted the service, Father Jeremy Trood, told the PA news agency it had been a requiem mass for Sara Sanchez, 20, and her mother, who both died within a month of each other in November.
The younger woman had succumbed to leukaemia while her mother died after suffering a blood clot on arrival at Heathrow from Colombia, the MyLondon news website reported.
“I heard this almighty bang and I thought this was not normal, and the next minute everyone was screaming and shouting,” a neighbour told PA.
In addition to the seven-year-old girl, four women and another girl, 12, were wounded in the incident near the busy Euston train station.
The 12-year-old girl was discharged from the hospital after treatment for minor leg injuries.
A 21-year-old woman is also in a central London hospital. Police said her injuries were not life-threatening.
Three other women aged 41, 48 and 54 remained in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, although the 48-year-old’s was “potentially life-changing”, police said.
A witness told MyLondon the shots were fired as mourners who had attended the mass watched doves being released afterwards.
