On 14 January 2023, at approximately 13:30, a

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

was committed with a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

outside

St Aloysius Aloysius de Gonzaga ( it, Luigi Gonzaga; 9 March 156821 June 1591) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epid ...

Roman

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Euston, London Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family se ...

, England, where a memorial service for two women had just ended. Six people were injured: four women (one of whom suffered potentially life-changing injuries) and two children, a twelve-year-old and a seven-year-old girl, the latter of whom was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition. She was later reported to be in a stable condition. Police appealed for information about a black car, believed to be a

Toyota C-HR The is a subcompact crossover SUV manufactured by Japanese automaker Toyota since 2016. The development of the car began in 2013, led by Toyota chief engineer Hiroyuki Koba. The C-HR is based on the same TNGA-C (GA-C) platform as the E210 ser ...

, that the shots were fired from. The memorial service was for Fresia Calderon and her daughter Sara Sanchez who had died separately from natural causes in November 2022. Fresia's ex-husband, Carlos Arturo Sanchez-Coronado, was arrested in Colombia and extradited to the United Kingdom for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

for a London drugs gang linked to the

Cali Cartel The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away fr ...

, and was jailed in 2009, serving his sentence and then moving to Santiago, where he died in 2022. This led to speculation that the attack was linked to the cartel, although Scotland Yard refused to discuss motive. In the early hours of 16 January 2023, London's

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

announced that a 22-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He had been detained a few hours earlier, after police stopped a car in the Borough of Barnet. He was later bailed until mid-February.

Reactions

Leader of the Opposition

Sir Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) ...

, in whose constituency the attack occurred, called for tighter restrictions on who can own pump-action shotguns.

References

{{Mass shootings in the United Kingdom 2023 in London 2023 mass shootings in Europe 2020s crimes in London 2020s mass shootings in the United Kingdom Mass shootings in London Attacks in the United Kingdom in 2023 Drive-by shootings January 2023 crimes in Europe January 2023 events in the United Kingdom Non-fatal shootings