With the rise in the recent murder rates in London, be it through gun crimes, stabbings, and with several deaths in one day, many people are not feeling safe in the city they consider as home.
The rift in knife and gun crime has become so much so that we have even surpassed New York’s ranking. This is certainly worried and should make us all think of this plague killing our youth.
The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick agrees that the force should reverse the decline in the use of stop-and-search power, which has been denounced for targeting ethnic minorities.
The Prime Minister and Mayor of London, however, have been receiving a lot of flak for failing to stop the wave of violence consuming London in the past few weeks.
The Home secretary is said to have expressed regret to David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, for failing to speak to him about the upsurge of violence in his constituency. David Lammy expressed, “Is a life in my constituency worth less than a life elsewhere in our country? I have had four young people lose their lives since Christmas and nor a single phone call or visit from the Prime Minister or Home Secretary. Where is the political consensus on a serious strategy?”
The Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy, has also criticised the Theresa May on Twitter stating, “If you can come to our borough looking for votes as you did today… the least you can do is hear our call for help to tackle the violent crime we are experiencing.”
Amaan Shakoor dies after being shot in Walthamstow
A 15-year-old boy was stabbed and a 16-year-old boy was shot in Walthamstow on 2nd April. The 16-year-old victim, Amaan Shakoor from Leyton died the following day in hospital at 5:45pm. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course.
An 18-year-old man from east London was arrested on Monday 9th April on suspicion of murder. He has since been released under investigation.
The victim's family are being supported by specialist officers. They have requested that their privacy is respected as they come to terms with the death of their loved one.
The investigation is being led by Detective Chief Inspector Gary Holmes of the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command. DCI Gary Holmes said, "This is a tragic murder of a young man which has shocked the local community and the rest of London, and our thoughts are with the victim's family at this incredibly difficult time. Serious violence on London's streets cannot be abided, and I would like to assure the local community that my officers and those on the Borough are working very hard to piece together what happened and identify those responsible for this violent incident which resulted in a teenager tragically being killed, and another seriously injured."
Amaan Shakoor became the 48th victim to have been murdered in 2018.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8345 1570 or via 101 quoting reference 6727/02 April or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. You can also tweet information to @MetCC