Camden News - by PAUL KEILTHY Published: 17 July 2008
Hunt for teen’s killers goes on
DETECTIVES are continuing to hunt for clues to the fatal shooting of teenager Sharma’arke Hassan after the arrest of four suspects over the past three weeks. Seventeen-year-old Acland Burghley school pupil Sharma’arke, who lived with his parents in Agar Grove, died four days after he was shot in the head during what sources have described as an ambush in Gilbey’s Yard, Camden Town, on May 24.
The most recent arrest, on July 1, followed three earlier arrests in the last week of June and brought the total questioned over the murder to five. All have been released on bail.
At the time of his death, Sharma’arke was one of 14 teenagers known unofficially as The Money Squad, or TMS, subject to Asbo proceedings aimed at banning them from the an of Camden Town considered a cannabis-dealing hotspot.
Last night (Wednesday), community policing panels were due to be told how Camden Police has attempted to defuse tensions among the borough’s rival teenagers following the shooting.
While dedicated squads for dealing with the night-time economy and with schools have both provided additional patrols, sergeants in charge of teams in Kentish Town, Highgate, Cantelowes, Camden Town and St Pancras Somers Town wards all reported extra measures to deal with the threat of violence.
Although detectives from Operation Trident, officers dedicated tackling crime in the black community, have not been drawn on the motive for the killing, it followed months of rising tension between teenagers in Gospel Oak and Kentish Town.
On the internet, tributes to Mr Hassan have in some cases been accompanied by what appear to be threats of retaliation.