LONDON — Six people, including a 7-year-old girl, were wounded Saturday afternoon in a drive-by shooting outside a London church, authorities said Sunday.
A 12-year-old girl and four women were also injured at St. Aloysius Church in Euston when shots were fired from a moving vehicle as a private memorial service was being held, the BBC reported.
Officers said shotgun blasts were fired from a black Toyota, according to The Guardian.
Girl, 7, critical after shooting outside a central London church https://t.co/0TLetB0yAw
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 15, 2023
“People came here to attend a funeral, to be with friends and loved ones and mourn together. Instead, they were the victims of a senseless act of violence,” police superintendent Jack Rowlands told reporters.
The 7-year-old remained hospitalized with stable but life-threatening injuries, according to The Associated Press. The 12-year-old suffered a leg injury, police said.
Rowlands said the women’s ages were 21, 41, 48 and 54, The Guardian reported.
The Rev. Jeremy Trood told the BBC he heard a bang and people “sheltered in the church until the police said they can leave.”
Trood, who conducted the service, told The Guardian that the service was a requiem mass for Sara Sanchez, 20, and her mother, Fresia Calderon, 50, who died within weeks of each other in November. More than 300 people attended the service, Trood said.
“I’ve been here nine years and I’ve never known anything like this,” Trood said, according to the BBC. “It’s very shocking.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the shooting a “deeply distressing incident.”
Police said an investigation was ongoing.
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