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Two boys, said to be around 12 and 15 years of age, have been shot on a high street in broad daylight in north-west London, both being close to High Street, Wealdstone. With both victims being treated at local hospitals, Scotland Yard said they were unsure of their conditions during early reports of the story. Although the two shootings happened in separate, albeit nearby, locations, police are investigating if the two shootings were linked.
What happened?
According to Daily Mail, Wealdstone High Street and Palmerston Road were closed as a result of the shooting, with police urging people to avoid the area. At this time, there have been no arrests made relating to the incident and no firearms were recovered. According to Mirror, traffic eventually reopened on High Street.
The two boys who were shot were also not identified in early reports of the story. According to Daily Mail, neither of the shootings were believed to be fatal.
What people were saying about the shooting?
Many local people gave their accounts of the shootings. According to Mirror, one person, identified as Cemalettin SimSek, issued the following statement:
“I didn’t see anything to do with the shooting because I was working but then at around 1.30pm I saw loads of police appear in the High Street, too many of them.”
“There were about five or six ambulances that arrived too – I have no idea what happened.”
Another person, Ajay Ramesh Vaghela, identified as a bystander, issued the following statement:
“It’s just a small section of the road that’s closed by police by Specsavers. I was going to the gym and saw the police cars there.
“It looks like it’s closed at the top of Palmerston Road, but people are walking up and down Wealdstone High Street as normal. I asked police what happened and they said they’d been reports of a shooting.”
It was noted by Daily Mail that the shooting took place the day after a 17-year-old boy, identified as Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, was shot dead, also during broad daylight, as the Sunday shooting has been, near his home in Southwark on Saturday.
As this story is developing, more information will be updated as made available.