Spate of shootings leave two dead

Six people were gunned down in a spate of shootings across the south of the UK within the same hour earlier today, police said.

London and Bristol suffered a triple shooting each between the hours of 3am and 4am this morning.

Two men were killed when a gunman opened fire in a busy south London nightclub between the hours of 3am and 4am.

The victims, both believed to be in their 30s, were thought to have been inside the premises when they were gunned down. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

A third man, who was wounded in the shooting at the Spotlight nightclub in London Road, Croydon, was taken to a south London hospital where his condition was described as serious but stable.

Police said there were around 40 people inside the venue at the time of the double murder at 3.10am.

A man has been arrested in connection with the incident and officers from the Met’s Operation Trident, which investigates black-on-black gun crime, are investigating.

None of the three victims have yet been identified.

Meanwhile in Bristol two women were shot and dumped outside a police station while in another incident in the city a man was shot in the stomach.

Avon and Somerset Police do not believe the shootings, which took place between 3.30am and 4am on Chalks Road, St George, and on Wilder Street, St Paul’s, are linked.

The two women were found in a Saab car outside Trinity Road Police Station. Its driver was seen running from the scene.

One of the women, who was shot in the head, was in a critical condition at Frenchay Hospital. The other woman, believed to be about 25-years-old, was seriously ill and being treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

In the second shooting incident in Bristol, gunfire was heard on Wilder Street before a man with serious injuries flagged down a passing car.

He was taken to Frenchay Hospital where he was described as being in a critical state.

Superintendent Mike Roe said police were keeping an “open mind” but did not believe the shootings were related at this stage.

“The circumstances surrounding both incidents and the distance between them suggests they are not linked, but we are keeping an open mind,” he said.

“It is unusual to have two such incidents in one night. Our job is to examine the facts and we need witnesses to both incidents to come forward. It would be dangerous to make presumptions at this stage.”

Supt Roe added that police had identified the Bristol victims but had yet to speak to their families.