Masked gunman kills Turkish gang boss in 'revenge hit' after girl, 9, shot in botched drive-by at London restaurant

12 July 2024, 09:42 | Updated: 12 July 2024, 10:35

Police in Moldova are hunting for a gunman who killed a high-ranking member of a London gang linked to a drive-by shooting in Dalston that seriously hurt a young girl.

Izzet Eren, the boss of the Tottenham Turks, was shot multiple times while sitting outside a cafe in Moldova’s capital Chisinau on Wednesday.

He was killed instantly after three of the bullets hit him in the head. The attacker, who was riding an electric scooter, fled the scene.

Footage has emerged of a man using a bike at a pedestrian crossing, while wearing a face covering. Local police have asked anyone with more images of this man to come forward, to help them with their investigation.

Dashcam appears to capture suspect in Moldova shooting of gang boss

Police believe that after the shooting the suspect travelled along Alecu Russo street, in the north-east of the city, before he disappeared from contact.

Authorities have urged the public not to approach the suspect, who is believed still to be armed.

Erin is believed to have been seeking asylum in Moldova, but had been rejected. Legal proceedings to remove him from the country, which sits between Romania and Ukraine, had not yet been completed.

He was jailed for 21 years in 2015 for firearms offences and was transferred to a prison in Turkey in August 2019.

He absconded from that prison a month later and detectives later traced him to Moldova.

He had been caught in October 2015 carrying a machine gun in north London while allegedly on his way to carry out a shooting.

Police have described the killing as a professionally orchestrated hit.

British detectives are investigating whether his killing might be linked to a botched drive-by in east London in which a girl was shot in the head while out having dinner with her parents.

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One of the intended targets of the shooting was a member of the rival Hackney Bombers gang who was sitting nearby.

Last month, Scotland Yard said the girl was ‘critical but stable’ - there has been no recent update on her condition.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “The Metropolitan Police are aware of reports of the death of a 41-year-old man in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.

“At this time the name of the man who died has not been officially confirmed by Moldovan authorities.”

A source told The Mirror: “The concern is that it's all going to kick off now with retaliation expected on the Hackney Bombers.”

The Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Bombers have been engaged in a violent turf war over control of the UK’s heroin trade for decades.

After the shooting, the owner of the Evin restaurant told of the ‘unimaginable horror' after the 'really cute' nine-year-old girl was left in a critical condition.

the victim was one of a party of six believed to be dining in the Turkish restaurant on Kingsland High Street when a hitman on a motorbike opened fire.

“The child was very lively and really cute,” explained restaurant owner, Gazi Degirmenci.

“I think at the moment the shots were fired she might have been jumping on the chairs … They were having dinner as a family. There was definitely another child, because that child was very scared."

Three men, aged 26, 37 and 42, who were sitting outside the restaurant, were taken to hospital for treatment.

Mr Degirmenci said at the time: “We just heard the gunshots … And after that it was over pretty quickly, five or 10 seconds, one minute at the most.

"A group were sitting outside at the front of the restaurant and it appears that they were targeted by [a man] on a motorbike. We were in shock and everyone fell to the floor and tried to protect themselves."

“There was loads of shouting and then we realised that one of the bullets had hit a child inside. The child was not with them [the three men outside], she was sitting at a table behind them.”