A nine-year-old girl was left fighting for her life after she was shot in a drive-by shooting while eating with her family outside a restaurant in London.
Three men aged 36, 27 and 42 were also rushed to hospital and treated for gunshot wounds after the attack outside the Turkish Evin restaurant in Dalston.
All of the men are in a stable condition but one of them faces potentially life changing injuries, according to the Metropolitan Police.
A shopworker said a waitress at the Turkish restaurant told her the family were dining alfresco when a motorbike let off five shots.
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She told The Independent: “I heard gunshots like five. It sounded like pow, pow, pow. I hit the panic button and the shutters came down and I locked everyone inside.
“The waitress told me the family were sitting down and eating when they were shot. There is an outside area. It could’ve been anyone hit.
“I walked past a bullet on the floor and the police told me not to step on it. I was very close. Someone came in said it was a child was shot as well. I was on the phone to security and was just crying at the same time.
“It was so scary you have to be worried when passers-by are hit. It could’ve been anyone. This area is always packed with families, especially in half-term.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “An urgent investigation has been launched to identify and apprehend those responsible.
“Three men aged 36, 27, 42 were taken to hospital for treatment for gunshot wounds, they are stable but one faces potentially life changing injuries.
“A nine-year-old girl suffered a gunshot wound and remains in hospital in a critical condition. She was an innocent victim of the indiscriminate nature of gun crime.
“We do not believe that the girl and the men injured were known to each other. As with any child, she was an innocent victim of the indiscriminate nature of gun crime.
“Police arrived at the scene within minutes of the crime being reported. Two crime scenes remain in place – at Kingsland High Street and at Colverstone Crescent, where we recovered a motorbike that we believe was used in the shooting and which we now know to have been stolen.”
Anyone with information that can help police should call 101 or post @MetCC reference CAD 8082/29May. To remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.