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Regent’s Canal, where two of the shootings have taken place |
Gang link to wounded teenager who tells police: ‘I’ve been shot’
Bandana-wearing gunman hunted after third shooting raises fears of turf war on streets
A TEENAGER found bleeding from a bullet wound in Camden Town this week was an alleged member of the same gang as murdered youth Sharma’arke Hassan, sparking fears of an escalating turf war.
The 17-year-old flagged down a passing police car at 11pm on Thursday in Pratt Street, near Regent’s Canal, telling officers: “I’ve been shot.”
The Camden Town youth was treated for a gunshot wound to his left shoulder at University College London Hospital’s acute ward while police hunted a gunman they described as “wearing a white T-shirt with a red bandana around his neck and a baseball cap”.
Mr Hassan, also 17, was shot in the head in Gilbey’s Yard, overlooking the canal, on May 24, and died four days later.
Both teenagers were on a list of 20 names believed by police to be members of The Money Squad, or TMS, a gang alleged to drink, fight and deal cannabis along Regent’s Canal and the so-called “frontline” of Camden High Street and Chalk Farm Road.
Although his family have adamantly denied he was connected to any gang, Mr Hassan was one of 14 teenagers who were the subject of anti-social behaviour order proceedings banning them from Camden and from meeting anyone on a list of 20 names entered at court, which included that of Thursday’s latest victim.
The case against the 13 teenagers continues in August.
A third Camden teenager, understood to be known to Thursday’s victim, is still in hospital two months after he was shot in the stomach in Archway the night before Mr Hassan’s shooting. This 18-year-old is understood to have had a major organ transplant.
All three shootings are being investigated in tight secrecy by Operation Trident, the Met’s specialist unit dealing with gun crime within the black community.
Nine arrests were made in connection with the first two shootings, but all suspects were released on bail and no one has been charged.
Detectives are understood to have struggled to persuade teenage witnesses to the shootings to provide information. Privately, senior officers have said the motives behind the shootings are unclear. “The only people who really know what this is about are these 17-year-olds. And they aren’t saying,” said one this week.
Publicly, officers have given messages of reassurance and reminders that youth crime in Camden is lower than in most of London, falling by 20 per cent in the last year.
On Tuesday, borough commander Chief Superintendent Dominic Clout told a meeting at the town hall: “We have to put youth crime into perspective and rationalise it. Since I came here six months ago I can’t help but be impressed by the range of activities available... Camden does not seem to be suffering some of the problems occurring in other boroughs. I’m not saying we are immune from that – we could have a tragic event.”
But the brutal intrusion of guns into Camden’s street scene is being treated seriously. For years, the borough has been largely gun-free. There were 69 incidents last year, including those involving replica weapons, airguns and pepper sprays, while comparable drug markets in Brixton and Harlesden have in past years been plagued with savage outbreaks of gun violence. |
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