Young mother and man killed in night of bloodshed in London

A young mother and a man have been killed within minutes of each other in a night of bloodshed in northwest London.

The woman, who was in her early 20s and had a six-year-old son, was found with a stab wound in Belmont Street, Camden at about 11.15pm on Sunday.

The victim, named locally as Shakira, was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene shortly before midnight.

A 35-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder, the Metropolitan Police said.

Terry Ellis, from Camden Against Violence, said the victim was “just in the wrong place at the wrong time” and it “wasn’t gang-related” or “drug-related”.

He added: “As far as I know it was an argument she wasn’t really involved in.”

A friend of the victim, Ronney, 21, said she was a “really, really good mum” who “adored” her son.

Two other women suffered slash wounds, which are not believed to be life-threatening.

Half a mile away in Kentish Town, a man in his 20s died just after midnight following a shooting.

A teaching assistant told how he battled to save the victim’s life as he lay on the ground with a gunshot wound to his chest.

The 25-year-old man called Will said: “We heard a gunshot, what we thought was a car backfiring, maybe a firework.

“We saw a man moving, there wasn’t anyone around him. By the time I got there, there was a group around him.

“No one was doing anything to the body so I did first aid, CPR, while I was on the phone to the ambulance.”

The witness said another bystander used a jumper to plug a wound in his chest.

“It was unclear whether he had been shot in the front or the back and it was a large wound,” he added.

“By the time they (medics) turned up I did about three rounds of CPR and they operated on him immediately but I think he was unsaveable.”

Another man who works nearby said he saw people “running, panicking” and went to see the victim “lying on the street”.

A couple of others stopped their car and “started to press the heart and give CPR”, he added.

An air ambulance was called but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Formal identity is yet to take place, police said.

It is understood there is no link between the deaths, and no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.

The latest deaths come less than 12 hours after a man died from a gunshot wound in southeast London.

Firearms officers were called after shots were heard in Sydenham on Sunday afternoon.

The 25-year-old victim died at the scene and police are investigating whether he may have accidentally shot himself.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Leonard said: “We are still in the early stages of the investigation and our enquiries into how the man came to be fatally injured continue.

“However, one hypothesis is that the man unintentionally discharged a firearm resulting in his fatal injury.”

A 56-year-old woman, who lives nearby, said she understood that the man “came to shoot someone else, but he ended up shooting himself”.

“The bullet bounced off a car window,” she said. “You can see on the car window where the bullet bounced off it.

“After it happened, the boy he came to shoot stood there filming him.”

One man has been arrested in connection with the Sydenham shooting and remains in custody at a south London police station.

The identities of the three people who have died have not yet been released.

Police have urged anyone with information about the incidents to contact them.

(c) Sky News 2019: Young mother and man killed in night of bloodshed in London