Despite the loud cry of parents and constant warning to young stars, four people were shot during this bank holiday weekend in London. The mother of a 17-year-old boy who was killed on Sunday has called for an end to violence on London’s streets.
“Let my son be the last and be an example to everyone. Just let it stop,” said Pretana Morgan, whose son Rhyhiem was shot dead in Southwark on Saturday.
Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton was found in Warham Street, Southwark, after a reported shooting in nearby Cooks Road on Saturday evening. The teen was hit while playing football with friends and died at the scene shortly before 7 pm.
Witnesses told the BBC a number of shots were fired around the street, including one that missed a woman and went through a window.
No arrests have been made as part of the murder probe.
Rhyhiem’s mother, Pretana Morgan, said she “couldn’t have asked for a better son”. She said he was not in a gang and aspired to be an architect.
The other day in Wealdstone, two boys, aged 13 and 15, suffered head injuries, and a 22-year-old was shot in Lewisham, luckily, they’re still alive.
However, in the latest incident, a 43-year-old man was stabbed in Ealing after a dispute over a man’s driving on a residential street.
Scotland Yard said the victim, who is in a stable condition in hospital, was believed to be attacked after questioning the driving of the suspect – who then drove away.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said his thoughts go out to the “loved ones of the teenager who was tragically killed”.
Rhyheim’s death came less than 24 hours before two other teenage boys were shot in broad daylight – around Sunday lunchtime – on a street in north-west London.
A 13-year-old boy suffered a shotgun pellet wound to the head within minutes of another teenager, aged 15, also being injured in a gun attack. Both boys remain in hospital.
In a separate attack, a 22-year-old suffered non-life-threatening wounds in a shooting in New Cross Road, Lewisham. There have been no arrests in any of the cases.
Official statistics released in April showed the number of homicides in London had surged by 44% in the last year.
More than 60 people have been killed in the capital this year – about half were the result of stabbings.
Around the UK, two men died in stabbings in Liverpool and Luton across the bank holiday weekend.
A 20-year-old man died after being stabbed in Liverpool city centre early on Sunday, while another victim, also aged 20, was killed in Bishopscote Road in Luton on Sunday evening.
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