Boy, 16, shot dead by gunmen ‘dressed as Deliveroo drivers'

Telegraph

05-03-2025

A 16-year-old boy was shot dead by gunmen dressed as Deliveroo drivers, according to relatives.
Police were called to reports of a shooting in Paradise Road, Stockwell in south London at 3.21pm on Tuesday.
The boy, named locally as Lathaniel, was pronounced dead at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics.
A man who said that he was the boy's uncle, who asked not to be named, claimed the gunmen posed as delivery drivers.
He said: 'They came on a moped dressed as Deliveroo drivers.'
No arrests have yet been made in connection with the shooting, the Metropolitan Police said.
Supt Gabriel Cameron, who is leading the local policing response, described the shooting as 'enormously shocking'.
Other relatives, who declined to give their names, described the teenager as a Manchester United fan who enjoyed playing PlayStation 5 and had one sibling, a sister.
A resident, who said that she knew Lathaniel's mother, said he was 'very bright at school' and his father worked at a nearby go-karting facility.
'He is great at looking after this community,' the woman, who asked not to be named, said.
A crime scene and cordons remain in place, with several police cars and officers stationed nearby.
Another resident who knew Lathaniel said that she was distressed to hear the news, saying that her own son had also died in a stabbing a few years ago.
And a young woman who lives nearby said: 'This area is not safe at night. There are a lot of teenage boys that cause a lot of trouble who live around here.
'They hang around at night, play around with the cops. Things like playing with fireworks and running from the police. But it can get serious. Someone I know got stabbed some time last year.
'I think about where the cameras are when I am walking at night, but there are no cameras in that area [of the shooting].
The death was described as a 'life wasted' by Florence Eshalomi, the Labour MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green.