A manhunt s under way for the gunman who shot dead a young man in a children’s park during another weekend of violence in the capital.
Edward Simpson, 25, was gunned down near a block of flats in Feltham, west London. He was the seventh murder victim in the capital in just eight days and the 64th of 2019.
Emergency services were called to Water Mill Way shortly after 11pm on Friday.
Neighbours heard Mr Simpson’s terrified screams as the firearm blast shook the walls of their homes.
Despite paramedics trying to save his life, he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Flowers and tributes were left near the scene today, one reading “RIP Ed,” and another saying “Rest in peace. We will miss you.”
His mother Alison told The Sun: “I’ve been woken up at five o’clock this morning to be told my son’s been shot. There’s a cold-blooded murderer out there. My happy-go-lucky boy is gone.”
One neighbour, who has lived in the area for 30 years, told the Standard: “We heard the shot go off. The house shook. My son was awake, he thought someone was breaking in because it was so loud.
“He came upstairs and said ‘Mum someone has been shot.’”
A neighbour in an adjacent housing block on the estate heard the shooting while she was getting ready to go to bed.
She said: “We thought it was a firework, we didn’t realise what it was until we heard what had happened the next day.”
A post-mortem examination yesterday found Mr Simpson had been killed by a gunshot to the upper body.
The latest spike in violence began with two teenagers being murdered within 12 minutes of each other in separate incidents on June 14
Cheyon Evans, 18, was fatally stabbed in the chest near his home in Tooting, while Eniola Aluko, 19, was shot dead in Plumstead.
Businessman Gleb Zhebrovsky, 34, also known as Gleb Stalnoy, originally from Russia, was stabbed to death in Poplar on June 15.
Giedrius Juskauskas, 42, a Lithuanian national who lived in the East Ham area of east London, was fatally knifed in nearby Stratford in the early hours of June 17.
David Bello-Monerville, 38, was fatally stabbed in the back during a “full-on” knife battle on tree-lined street in Barnet, north London, on June 18. Two of Mr Bello-Monerville’s brothers have previously been murdered in London. A man, 27, has been charged with aggravated burglary.
And a homeless man in his 40s died in hospital hours after suffering horrific burns in a fire on land next to the southbound carriageway of the A406 in Wanstead. Two men, aged 37 and 51, have been charged with murder, attempted murder and arson with intent to endanger life.
In a separate incident, four men were also injured in suspected acid attacks within hours of each other.
A market trader, 45, setting up his stall had a corrosive substance thrown on him by two men wearing burkhas in Walthamstow High Street on Friday morning.
Then a man was reportedly sprayed in the face with a substance before being bit by the suspect’s dog in Southbridge Road, Croydon at 2.47pm.
Two youths, in their 20s, were found suffering burns in Cricketfield Road near Hackney Downs shortly before 7.30pm.
A man thrown off a tube after a fracas with another passenger was found with severe chest injury at North Greenwich station at 8.46pm.
Later that night, a 17-year-old man was stabbed in Goswell Road, Islington, shortly after 11pm. He remains in a critical but stable condition.
On Saturday evening police were called to Atherstone Court, Maida Vale, where a 17-year-old youth was stabbed. Last night a teenager was knifed in Middle Lane, Hornsey, shortly after 9.15pm. Both victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
A man in his 20s was stabbed in the hand in Rivington Street, Shoreditch at 2.30am on Sunday. He was taken to hospital but is expected to recover.
