UK Police are hunting for four black men over the shooting of Black Lives Matter activist, Sasha Johnson.
The 27-year-old mother of three was shot in the head after the four-strong gang stormed into a garden party in Consort Road, Peckham, south London, and opened fire in the early hours of Sunday, May 23.
But Scotland Yard today said it does not believe the self-styled ‘Black Panther of Oxford’ who is fighting for her life in hospital was the intended target.
Commander Alison Heydari said: “From our enquiries so far, we have established that Sasha had been at a party at a house on Consort Road in Peckham early on Sunday morning.
“Around 3am a group of four black males dressed in dark coloured clothing entered the garden of the property and discharged a firearm. They had left the scene before officers arrived.
“We are aware of Sasha’s involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK and I understand the concern this will cause to some communities – however I wish to stress that at this time there is nothing to suggest Sasha was the victim of a targeted attack.
“We are also not aware of any reports of threats made against her prior to this incident.”
She went on to call the incident “shocking”, adding that the force’s “thoughts are with the family”.
Ms Heydari said the suspects are black men who were dressed in dark clothing and “there is no suggestion they knew Sasha”.
“There is someone out there who knows who carried out this attack and these people do not deserve their protection,” she added.
Forensic experts have been at the Consort Road area looking for evidence with Police been securing CCTV from the area, as well as footage from devices that may have recorded people in and around the home where the gathering was taking place.
However, Ms. Johnson’s Taking the Initiative Party criticised the Met’s statement for dismissing claims of alleged death threats sent to the activist prior to the incident
In their own statement, released online, they objected to the characterization of the attack on Johnson.
“Whilst we are overwhelmed by the love and the support for Sasha, we are also deeply saddened and disgusted by the negative press that has infested from this act of hate,” the statement said, adding that the party had been receiving hate mail celebrating Johnson’s shooting.
“The irony, is in the fact that the police have stated that there is no clear evidence that Sasha was the target of the attack, and that there are no credible death threats made towards her; however, how have the police come to this conclusion without being able to speak with Sasha regarding the death threats and investigate? Do the police know who the target of the attack was, in order to conclude that Sasha wasn’t? How does one manage to shoot someone in the head accidentally? Surely, to end up in hospital having sustained a bullet shot to the head, makes a death threat more credible …
“We are disgusted by the way that this narrative has been portrayed as a ‘black-on-black crime’ and a ‘gang crime’, not acknowledging that this is a hate crime or a targeted attack at worst.”
