Was a violent Colombian drug cartel behind drive-by shooting that wounded six?
Gunman targeted memorial for cocaine gang member’s ex-wife
A DRIVE-BY shooting that left a girl of seven fighting for her life could be linked to Colombia’s violent drug wars, it was feared last night.
The youngster was among six mourners injured outside a joint memorial service for a mother and daughter when a gunman opened fire.
The service was being held for Fresia Calderon, 50, and 20-year- old Sara Sanchez at a church near London’s Euston rail station.
Ms Sanchez suffered from leukaemia for three years before her death, and her mother died suddenly from a rare blood clot on arrival at Heathrow from Colombia. Both died in November.
Police were last night in a desperate manhunt for the gunman, who was driving a black Toyota C-HR, likely a 2019 model, after two girls and four women were hit by fire from the vehicle. The seven-year- old victim was said to be in a life-threatening but stable condition in hospital.
Mrs Calderon was the former wife of f Carlos Arturo Sanchez- Coronado, who was convicted of working with a British drug gang to launder cash linked to the notorious Cali Cartel, which once dominated the global cocaine market.
While the police declined to comment on a possible motive for the shooting, Mrs Calderon’s ex-husband served time in Britain from 2009 after being extradited over charges related to money laundering and fake documents, before he returned to South America.
The London raids in which he was caught were said to have led to the seizure of cash and drugs worth over £100million, although Sanchez-Coronado’s role was only said to be that of ‘money deliverer’. While the shooting appeared to be indiscriminate, there is the possibility that a mourner was the target of a botched hit.
Members of the family who could be reached in London declined to comment. Officers were called to the scene outside St Aloysius Church, which occurred as white doves of peace were being released on the street.
Father Jeremy Trood, who conducted the Requiem Mass for Ms Sanchez and Mrs Calderon, described the scene as one of ‘general panic’. Footage of the immediate aftermath obtained by MailOnline shows service-goers running in confusion back into the church, shouting ‘get to the back’ and ‘we need to get out’.
The four women, aged 21, 41, 48 and 54, sustained injuries deemed non-life-threatening, but the 48year-old’s wounds are ‘potentially life-changing’, police said.
The other child caught up in the shooting, aged 12, was injured in the leg but released from hospital the same day. Father Trood said: ‘I was inside the church. I had finished the service – most people were making their way out.
‘Suddenly there was this enormous bang: a single, long, prolonged bang. I knew it was something outside. Immediately after it happened people started screaming and running back inside.
‘Someone shouted “it’s a gun”. General panic ensued inside the church as people were trying to get back in, and those who were trying to get out no longer could.
‘They were going out to see doves that were intended to be released from the church steps at the end of the service. This is not the sort of thing that happens around here.
‘They [Ms Sanchez and Mrs Calderon] were well-known locally. The church was full.’ Father Trood said he knew nothing of the motive of the attacker, adding: ‘I only know what I’ve read online – pure speculation at this moment.’
One volunteer at a food bank a few doors down from the church was just closing the gates for the day when she heard a bang.
‘It was one loud blast, a single shot, I am pretty sure,’ she said. ‘Then all hell broke loose and lots of people ran past.’ A customer at the food bank added that he had seen ‘one woman, lying alone in the street’ after the bang.
Speaking at the crime scene yesterday, Superintendent Jack Rowlands said: ‘I can promise that we are doing everything we can to identify and bring to justice those who were responsible for this attack. The investigation is being led by the Met’s Specialist Crime Command.
‘We want to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident or who has any information about it.’
‘Money laundering and fake papers’