A nine-year-old girl fighting for her life after a shooting in Hackney was visiting family on a six-month holiday before she was shot in the head by a motorcycle hitman during a feud between Turkish and Kurdish gangs. .
The child involved in Wednesday’s suspected gangland shooting while dining with her family in east London is said to be “on the mend” and yesterday pinched her father’s boyfriend, a close official said. friend of the family.
The girl is said to have moved to Britain with her parents, both IT workers, about two years ago. The family lives together in Birmingham.
Relatives attended a church service for her in India’s Kerala region yesterday, but the critical nature of her condition is being kept hidden from her grandmother, to whom she is close.
The girl’s uncle told The Sun: ‘We told her it was a minor injury. We even keep her away from local television stations that broadcast the news. She had an emotional bond with the girl and that was conveyed over the phone at least every day.”
It is understood the family who were visiting relatives over the summer holidays had no intention of eating at Evin restaurant in Kinglsand High Street, Dalston, and only did so because the child suddenly became hungry.
Forensic police officers at the scene of the shooting in Kingsland High Street, Hackney, East London,
Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment a hitman on a stolen motorbike attacks three men outside a Turkish restaurant
The nine-year-old girl is fighting for her life. In the photo, forensic officers are on site on Thursday
The girl was shot in the Turkish restaurant just after 9 p.m. The gunman on a Ducati Monster motorcycle stopped and started shooting at three men sitting outside, believed to be his targets.
The men of Turkish descent, aged 37, 42 and 44, were injured and the girl was caught in the hail of bullets, one of which reportedly lodged in her head.
The Sunday Times reports that Turkish residents in the area said most people were too scared to speak out because the area is overrun with gangs.
Many claimed the shooting was part of a rivalry between a Turkish and a Kurdish gang, one from Hackney called the ‘Bombers’ and another called the ‘Tottenham Turkish’.
The restaurant owner, Gazi Degirmenci, told the newspaper that the girl was “playing with her family,” adding: “She was very active, very happy.”
He continued: ‘[Other customers] tried to stop the bleeding and calm them down. Her parents were screaming, they were crying.”
Mr Degirmenci denied his company was targeted amid local speculation, claiming: ‘This was something between two gangs. The problem is not with our community or our company. The biggest problem is with the two gang groups.”
One of the injured has been released from hospital and the other two are being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Pictured: Forensic officers collect evidence at the scene in Dalston, east London
The girl was shot at Evin restaurant in Kingsland High Street just after 9pm on May 29
Pictured: Emergency services on scene in Dalston, East London
Pictured: Police guard the cordon at the scene in Dalston, East London
The girl has been on a ventilator since Wednesday. Doctors performed one operation but were unable to remove the bullet, the family friend said
The girl has been on a ventilator since Wednesday. Doctors performed one operation but were unable to remove the bullet, the family friend said.
But, he added, on Friday doctors began tapering her anesthesia to see how she responded, and yesterday her family was elated as she squeezed her father’s hand.
The friend said: ‘She’s on a ventilator but she’s responding to some things, which is good. When they [her parents] say something, she answers, as if wagging her finger.
“Her father spoke to her this morning and she responded: she squeezed his hand, she pressed it.” He said doctors will remove the bullet in another operation, but that could take several days.
The friend, who regularly speaks to the girl’s father on the phone, said her parents were a lot more optimistic. He said, ‘Doctors say it will be fine.’
The motorcycle, with red wheels and registration number DP21 OXY, was stolen from a property in Wembley, north London, three years ago.
Police have appealed to London’s Turkish and Kurdish communities for information about the attack.
A Met Police spokesperson said: ‘We are open to any motive.’