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Walthamstown shooting: Man held after teen is ‘shot dead as he sat in car outside church’

Police at the scene in Vallentin Road, Walthamstow, east London, following a shooting in which a 19-year-old man died: PA
Police at the scene in Vallentin Road, Walthamstow, east London, following a shooting in which a 19-year-old man died: PA

A man has been arrested after a teenager was killed in a drive-by shooting — one of three people to die in a weekend of bloodshed in the capital.

Witnesses said the 19-year-old was gunned down as he sat in a car outside a church in Vallentin Road, Walthamstow, shortly after 11pm on Saturday.

Friends took him by car to a nearby hospital but he died about half an hour later.

Hours earlier a young DJ was knifed to death when violence flared at a house party in Wilderton Road, Stamford Hill. The 20-year-old, named locally as Elyon Mark Poku was attacked at around 12.50am and died in hospital four hours later.

Victim: Elyon Mark Poku, a DJ also known as Nana Banger, was stabbed to death on Saturday
Victim: Elyon Mark Poku, a DJ also known as Nana Banger, was stabbed to death on Saturday

And Packiam Ramathan, 73, was due in court today accused of murdering her husband Kanagusabi Ramathan, 75, who was found with serious head injuries at their home in East Ham on Friday night.

Also on Friday, a 17-year-old was left fighting for his life after being stabbed in the back in Limehouse. He was in a critical but stable condition in hospital today. Police said a 15-year-old boy had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He remains in custody at an east London police station.

The latest killings mean at least 108 homicide investigations have been launched in the capital already this year — only 10 fewer than 2017’s overall total of 118.

Police were today appealing for information over the killing in Walthamstow, as well as that of Mr Poku, known as “Nana Banger”.

Mr Poku was one of three people stabbed at the “large house party”, officers said, with a boy aged 17 and a 24-year-old man also taken to hospital suffering non life-threatening head injuries.

Last night, relatives and friends gathered at Mr Poku’s home on the Stamford Hill Estate, placing dozens of candles while a local clergyman led prayers calling for an end to youth violence.

A 24-year-old man was due in court today charged with the murder of Ali Al Har, 25, from Wembley, who was stabbed to death in Tufnell Park on Tuesday.