Girl, 7, and three women injured in drive-by shooting at London funeral
A seven-year-old girl and three women were shot in a drive-by shooting during a funeral in central London on Saturday.
The women – aged 54, 48 and 41 – are being treated in hospital after the attack at St Aloysius R.C. Church near Euston at 1.30pm, the Metropolitan Police said.
Their injuries were assessed as non-life threatening, but the 48-year-old has potentially life-changing injuries, officers said. The girl’s condition is not yet known.
The London Ambulance Service and Air Ambulance were called to the scene in Phoenix Road after police received reports of shots being fired from a moving vehicle.
No arrests have been made but detectives have urged anyone with video footage or CCTV to contact the force.
‘No one knew if it was a bomb or gunman’
A witness who said they were inside the church when the attack took place told a reporter at the scene: “It was chaos. It was horrible.
“No one knew if it was a bomb or gunman. We were looking for places to hide. We all just snuggled into corners where we could. We left after about 10 minutes, I did not dare [leave before]. It was not nice.”
Another witness said mourners were gathered outside the church to watch the release of doves when the incident took place.
“When the service finished, we were outside to see the flying of doves. A black car came and started to shoot bullets. It was chaotic,” said Jaouida Ifghallal.
The shooting reportedly took place during the funeral of a mother and daughter – Fresia Calderon, 50, and Sara Sanchez, 20 – who died within a month of each other, according to the news outlet MyLondon.
Ms Calderon fainted while getting off a flight from Colombia to Heathrow Airport and died at the scene on November 5.
Doctors later blamed a pulmonary embolism, a rare blood clot that usually starts in the legs but gets stuck in an artery in the lungs.
Ms Sanchez died 25 days later, having been diagnosed with leukaemia aged 17.
A family member said Sara “gave up all hope” after her mother passed away.
It is not yet clear how the victims knew Ms Calderon and Ms Sanchez, or why the funeral service was targeted.
Father Jeremy Trood, of St Aloysius church, said: “I heard a big bang and police are in the church at the moment. People who were leaving the church have rushed back in.”
