GUNMAN ON LOOSE
Hackney shooting leaves three men in hospital as gunman opens fire in East London
A MASKED gunman is on the loose after a drive-by shooting saw three men injured in East London last night.
Cops rushed to the bloody scene in Hackney after shots were fired at around 10.30pm.
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Witnesses saw blood splattered on the pavement after the victims were rushed to hospital - with cops still hunting the shooter.
None of the injured are believed to be in a critical condition, the Met Police said.
Reports last night suggested the incident could have been an attack which marred an event to mark the anniversary of the death of Rashan Charles.
DRIVE BY AT RASHAN MEMORIAL
The 20-year-old died on July 22 2017 after cops chased him into a Dalston convenience store.
Initially it was believed he had swallowed a package containing a combination of caffeine and paracetamol while officers arrested him.
But an Independent Police Complaints Commission probe later revealed he had not swallowed a "controlled substance".
His death has sparked ferocious riots on the streets of the area with furious protesters pelting cops with missiles and setting objects on fire.
During a demonstration at the time a spokesman for the Charles family said: "The police at the moment are acting in a way that is going to divide the communities. It will be an us versus them thing... they are acting like a gang, operating like a gang."
MASKED MAN
Last night, witness Fiona Stewart said one man had been shot in stomach by a "masked guy".
She told the : "There were specks of blood everywhere on the pavement.
"A lady was sat down outside and said she was with the guy who had been shot in the stomach.
"Apparently a guy came down the cobbled road in a car and shot a bloke commemorating the death of Rashan Charles. The lady I spoke to said it was a black car.
"A guy in the supermarket told me he (the shooter) was a masked guy."
A Met Police spokesman said the three men attended hospital.
No arrests have yet been made.
Earlier, a police spokesman said: "Police were called at around 10.30pm on Monday, 22 July, to shots heard in Kingsland Road, E8.
Apparently a guy came down the cobbled road in a car and shot a bloke commemorating the death of Rashan Charles
Eyewitness
"A short time later, officers were alerted to three injured males having attended a London hospital.
"We believe the injured males are linked to shots fired in Kingsland Road and await details of their injuries.
"A crime scene has been identified and cordons are in place. Some local roads are closed."
The shooting is the latest incident to blight the capital as Lawless London's knife crime epidemic reached unprecedented levels earlier this year.
LAWLESS LONDON
There have been more than 78 deaths linked to knife crime in the capital since the start of 2019.
Last year was London's bloodiest in a decade - when the number of homicides reached 132 - and it shows no signs of abating.
As of July 17, Scotland Yard had launched 78 murder investigations in London.
Recent figures revealed knife crime in England and Wales soared to a record high, with 43,000 offences last year.
This year got off to a bloody start when mum-of-one Charlotte Huggins, 33, was knifed to death at her home in Camberwell, South East London on New Year’s Day.
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Just hours later security guard Tudor Simionov, 33, was stabbed outside a VIP sex party in Park Lane, Mayfair.
A week later Jaden Moodie, 14, was stabbed to death in east London after being knocked off a moped.
One of the most shocking death's was that of 17-year-old Jodie Chesney who was knifed in a park in East London.
She was stabbed so ferociously the blade broke off in her body.
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