Man, 32, charged with attempted murder after girl, 8, and dad shot in London suburb

A 32-year-old man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder after an eight-year-old girl and her father were injured in a shooting close to one of London’s most upmarket suburbs, the Metropolitan Police said.

Jazz Reid will appear before magistrates in connection with the incident that saw a gunman open fire on a family travelling in a car.

Reid was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of the attempted murder of two people and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life whilst a 22-year-old man arrested on Sunday evening close to the scene has been released on bail.

A mum was heard screaming “my baby, my baby’s been shot” after the eight-year-old girl and her 34-year-old father were both shot as violence exploded in the leafy district of Kensington on Sunday evening.

The father was being treated for potentially life-changing injuries whilst the girl is recovering after undergoing surgery for serious – but not life-threatening – injuries.

The girl’s mum, 32, and the couple’s two-year-old child who were also passengers in the family saloon escaped uninjured but the mum is at her daughter’s bedside where she is understood to be “in a state of shock”.

Armed officers raced to Ladbroke Grove in Southern Row, Kensington, after locals heard “four or five” shots being fired out before the woman began screaming, “My baby, my baby’s been shot.”

The gunman is alleged to have raced up alongside the car before opening fire on the four occupants inside. Sources believe it was a targeted attack with the schoolgirl caught in the crossfire.

They were treated at the scene by locals who rushed from their homes before paramedics from London Ambulance Service arrived and rushed them to hospital.

One local resident, aged 64, said: “I heard shots, and then a woman shouting: ‘My baby, my baby’s been shot’…it makes me sick to think about it now.

Met Supt Owen Renowden said after receiving multiple 999 calls of a family being shot an armed unit from the Specialist Firearms Command were dispatched alongside local officers

He said: “On arrival, officers located a 34-year-old man and an eight-year-old girl who had sustained serious gunshot injuries. Also present in the car, was a two-year-old child and a 32-year-old woman who were thankfully unharmed.

“The 34-year-old male has sustained potentially life changing injuries, whilst the eight-year-old girl remains in surgery, although we do not believe her injuries to be life threatening at this time. They are being supported by specialist officers and my thoughts remain with them.

In July of this year, 15-year-old Renee Graham was shot dead at Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance on Southern Row whilst attending a family fun day event ahead of the Notting Hill Carnival.