Three injured in Clapham after shots fired by moped rider being chased by police
Two suffer gunshot wounds and a third injured after being hit by moped, police say
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Three people have been injured after shots were fired by a moped rider who was being chased by police in south London.
Officers had been pursuing the moped after it failed to stop in the Clapham area just before 5pm on Friday, the Metropolitan Police said.
The force added that a firearm, believed to be a shotgun, was discharged from the moped near The Belle Vue pub in Clapham Common.
Two people suffered shotgun pellet injuries, while a third was injured by the moped. The suspects then fled the scene and officers are attempting to trace the moped.
The window of the Belle Vue pub appeared to have been shattered in the rush hour shooting.
Christopher Peters, who witnessed the aftermath of the attack, told The Independent: “I saw well over 10 stationary police cars blocking the crossroad.
“There was police tape, ambulances, a helicopter overhead, more police cars arriving at high speed from the Clapham North and Clapham junction directions.
“Then I could see what looked like a motorbike on its side. And what looked like a bullet hole in the window of the pub on that crossroads.”
A local barber said he was left “shocked” after hearing shooting close to his shop near Clapham Common.
The man, who gave his name as Kaka, 34, who works in Chop Barbers, said: “I was in the shop just before 5pm and I heard a gunshot up the road.
“We were all shocked because it was so close, the police were everywhere afterwards.”
Sian Cole said she was nearly struck by the bike as it careered onto the pavement with police in pursuit as she got off at Clapham Common Tube station.
She told The Independent: “It was very scary due to it being rush hour and there were so many people present at the scene.
“I was walking and the motorbike just crashed right in front of me.
“And then I saw them get up and run. Only then did I realise the police cars because I had my Airpods in.
“So I stopped the music and then heard the shot. It could’ve hit any of us. It hit a woman in the leg. They were aiming it back behind them.”
Several roads in the area have been cordoned off.
London Ambulance Service said it had taken two people to a London major trauma centre and one to hospital.
Police said that it was not thought any of those injured were in a life-threatening condition.
A crime scene is in place and there have been no arrests.