11-year-old boy suffers 'possibly life-changing injuries' following east London shooting

1 May 2020, 23:48

An 11-year-old boy has suffered possibly life-changing injuries after being shot in east London, police said.

Officers were called to an address in Kerry Drive, Upminster, on Friday evening and found two people with injuries - the 11 year old boy and a man believed to be in his 40s.

Metropolitan Police say both were taken to hospital, with the boy's condition listed as not life-threatening but possibly life-changing.

The condition of the man has been assessed as not life-threatening or life-changing.

On Saturday morning police officers were putting up tape close to the address in Upminster, east London, where the boy and man were found injured on Friday.

Police were checking if people were local residents before allowing them under the cordon running across the top of Kerry Drive and on Limerick Gardens.

Uniformed officers stood by a single police car parked across the middle of Limerick Gardens.

A forensic officer in protective clothing and carrying equipment arrived at the scene on Saturday morning.

A 53-year-old local resident said she was "pretty shocked" by the incident.

The woman, who gave her name as Sharon and was speaking while walking her dogs on Saturday morning, said: "It's not the sort of area that this goes on. This is a really, really quiet, lovely area. I know all my neighbours up and down on this road."

She said she knew the boy's family only "to say hello to".

Commenting on the incident, she added: "It doesn't happen in this road. This is a leafy suburb. People walk their dogs, people come here for a quiet life."

An 82-year-old local resident, who did not want to be named, said she saw an ambulance arriving on Friday night, and was later told the details of the incident by a neighbour.

"You just can't imagine it. I just feel so sad for it to happen," she said.

"I've lived here 32 years and I've never heard of anything like this before."

Commenting on the local area, she said: "Everyone Is really nice. It's not that sort of area."