SHOTGUN STRIKES
Two women, 27 & 36, injured in shotgun shooting after moped crashed into man, 27, during cop chase outside Clapham pub
Witnesses say a woman was 'left bleeding' on the busy road
COPS are still searching for two people after a gun was fired outside a pub last night - seeing two women and a man rushed to hospital.
The pair took off on foot after chaos erupted outside The Bellevue pub in Clapham Common, South London.
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Met Police swarmed the busy area at around 5pm on Friday after a firearm - believed to be a shotgun - was set off.
It happened after two people on a moped tried to flee cops.
The pair then rushed away from the scene, and cops were still desperately trying to find them this afternoon.
Two women, 27 and 36, were injured in the shooting, and a 27-year-old man was hurt when he was hit by the moped.
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The trio have now all been released from hospital.
Police say they were pursuing the moped after it failed to stop when it collided with the man.
The shotgun was discharged as it "struck the ground" when the pair tried to flee.
Thankfully it was just shrapnel that hit the women, who were outside the pub.
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The Met has referred itself to the police watchdog.
Barrista Will Mason, 27, who was drinking in the pub, told The Sun: “We were sat just by the window. We heard two shots go off and it sounded like a bomb.
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“Moments later a guy was running past wearing a tracksuit and a balaclava.
“Suddenly we noticed a hole and the gun on the floor."
Will, from Clapham, added: “One of the women had blood streaming down her leg - she seemed to be in good spirits though.
“The other was sat at the bar saying ‘I’ve been hit in the head’."
Uber Eats rider Renato Cabrera, who was waiting to pick up an order when the bullets were fired, said he saw a man fall to the ground after being smashed by the stray bike.
The Spaniard, 26, said: “The two men were on the bike and fell off because of the police behind them, it was two police cars that were trying to stop it.
“When they fell off the bike went across the road and hit a man quite hard on the pavement.
“He fell down on his side and the people near, they help(ed) him.
“I couldn’t see what he looked like. The bike hit him at probably 20 miles per hour on his legs. He fell hard, quick.
It was manic - we just heard one massive bang and nobody had any idea what was going on.
“There were a lot of bangs, one very loud one and then two smaller bangs.
“I heard screams like people had just seen a dead body but I don’t think it was that.
“The men on the bike ran towards Brixton.”
A witness who works in an Iceland store just yards from where the shots were fired said 20 police cars rushed to the scene.
The retail worker, who gave his name as Jacob, said: “At its peak there were 15 or 20 police cars here, right around the area.
“The entire zone was shut down. A lot of ambulances came too.
“There was a large bang at around 5pm but nobody thought anything of it and then loads of police turned up so we guessed something had happened.”
Startled shoppers are said to have fled the area after hearing the loud commotion, fearing the shooting was a terrorist attack.
Just 55 guns taken off the streets
By Harry Cole
JUST 55 guns were taken off the streets last year by Britain’s FBI.
The annual haul was the smallest in the National Crime Agency’s ten-year history.
Its annual report shows the combined total of firearms seized in the UK and overseas in 2022/23 was 133.
It states 78 seizures were abroad, leaving just 55 domestically.
This compares with a total of 685 guns — including 263 in the UK — grabbed in 2019/20.
It means that in the space of three years the agency has gone from taking 22 firearms a month off Britain’s streets to barely one a week.
Gun crimes last year included the murders of nine-year-old Olivia Platt-Korbel and pubgoer Elle Edwards on Merseyside and a drive-by shooting on a family attending a funeral in Euston, central London.
The agency report states “firearms crime is currently lower than the long-term trend”, with 5,750 firearms offences in England and Wales in the year to March 2022.
But data published by the ONS two weeks ago shows firearm offences in England and Wales rose to 6,365 in 2022/23 — up 615 on 2021/22.
It means the NCA seized just one firearm in the UK for every 115 offences committed in 2022/23 — compared with one for every 24 offences in 2019/20.
The report gave no reason for the drop.
Passengers were also evacuated from a number 50 bus passing Clapham Common when the sudden burst of gunfire rang out.
A local barber said he was left "shocked" after hearing shooting close to his shop near Clapham Common.
The man, who gave his name as Kaka, 34, who works in Chop Barbers, said: "I was in the shop just before 5 and I heard a gunshot up the road.
"We were all shocked because it was so close, the police were everywhere afterwards."
Another witness, who was in the Belle Vue pub at the time of the attack, said two women were left bleeding after being shot.
Henry Smith, 33, told The Sun: “It was manic - we just heard one massive bang and nobody had any idea what was going on.
“There were about 15 people inside the pub at the time.
“Nobody had any idea it was a gunshot until we heard all the commotion outside.”
They must’ve been trying to shoot at the police officer behind them but ended up hitting bystanders.
“She was bleeding but she didn’t seem to be screaming much or anything.
“I don’t think she was too badly hurt.”
Witnesses said a woman walking on Clapham South Side was shot in the leg.
A passer-by said: “I didn’t see blood but I saw her touching her leg in pain. The other victims I’m not so sure of.
“They must’ve been trying to shoot at the police officer behind them but ended up hitting bystanders.”
She added two men were wearing all-black clothes.
The witness saw how the suspects quickly dropped the weapon - believed to be a shotgun - before fleeing the busy high street.
'MANHUNT' UNDERWAY
The ambulance service said: "We sent a number of resources including ambulance crews, operational managers, advanced paramedics and London's air ambulance.
"We treated three people at the scene and took two to a London major trauma centre and one to hospital."
DCI Gemma Alger, of the Met's Specialist Crime unit, this afternoon said: “Our investigation to identify the two people responsible is at an early stage, but we will be relentless in following up every line of enquiry to arrest them.
“The suspects fled the scene on foot. Crime scenes remain in place in St Alphonsus Road as forensic searches are ongoing at premises where the suspects made off through gardens.
“The shotgun was recovered from the scene and this will also be subject to forensic analysis.
“I want to hear from anyone with information about the incident and any witnesses yet to speak with police. CCTV footage will form part of our investigation, and of course I also want to hear from anyone who has dashcam footage that may assist the investigation.
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‘’Local Officers will be in the area to provide reassurance to the local community.’’
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 ref CAD 5008/01Mar. To remain anonymous, please contact Crimestoppers.
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