London police arrest man connected to rare drive-by shooting

Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Authorities in London said Monday that police have arrested a 22-year-old man in connection to a broad daylight drive-by shooting at a church on Saturday that left several people injured, including two children.

The man, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday after a car he was in was stopped in Cricklewood Lane in the London borough of Barnet, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The arrest comes after police on Saturday responded to a call of a shooting shortly before 1:30 p.m. out front of St. Aloysius Church in the Euston area of London.

Officers arrived at the scene to find four women and two children injured.

The women, aged 21, 41, 41, and 54, were transported to central London hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Police said that though she will survive, the 48-year-old victim suffered "potentially life-changing injuries."

As of early Monday, a 7-year-old girl remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition after having suffered unspecified injuries in the shooting. A second minor, a 12-year-old girl, also sustained a leg injury in the shooting and was treated at the hospital before being discharged, authorities said.

According to police, suspects in a black Toyota C-HR drove up to the church and opened fire on people attending a funeral.

The weapon has been identified as a shotgun.

"People came here to attend a funeral, to be with friends and loved ones and to mourn together," Superintendent Jack Rowlands said in a statement on Sunday. "Instead, they were the victims of a senseless act of violence."

Homicides in London are relatively rare with gun deaths even more so.

For all of 2022, there were 109 homicides recored, nine of which were shootings, according to Metropolitan Police statistics.

"My thoughts are with those affected by this deeply shocking incident," London Mayor Sadiq Kahn said in a statement after the shooting. "I remain in constant contact with the Met, who are working tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice."