Deceased now identified as Ionut Lazar a Romanian national

A man has been arrested in connection with the investigation into the fatal shooting of a man on Askew Road.

The 18 year-old man is being held in a west London police station on suspicion of murder.

The deceased has now been identified as 28 year-old Ionut Lazar, a Romanian national who arrived in the country just two days before his death. His next of kin have been informed and, although formal identification has not taken place, police are satisfied they have named him correctly.

The post mortem on Monday showed that Mr Lazar was shot rather than stabbed as police had initially believed.

Their investigations have now revealed that an armed gang attacked him in the early hours of Saturday morning (22 October).

Police were called to the scene by paramedics at approximately 2.40am when they found Mr Lazar unconscious. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. St. Elmo Road and Becklow Road were both cordoned off with police tape info Saturday afternoon as forensic officers searched the area.

The Evening Standard has also reported that a second man was injured during the incident and that the scene of the crime, a second floor flat, was a well known drug den.

It said shocked staff at Nisa Local in Askew Road described how the "badly beaten" man rushed into the store sometime after 2am on Saturday, telling them he was running from a group who had a knife and were trying to kill him.

After refusing to call the police, the man fled from the store.

Neighbours also claimed that police had known for months that the flat had been used for drug dealing, though police have not confirmed that drugs were involved in the murder.

Any witnesses or anyone with any information that can assist police are urged to contact the incident room on 020 8721 4805, or police via 101.

To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

October 26, 2016