Teenage boys shot within minutes of each other in high street attack

A 13-year-old boy was shot in the head in a London street in broad daylight, within minutes of another teenager, aged 15, also being injured in a gun attack.

Police were called at lunchtime to a shooting in Wealdstone in Harrow, only to be alerted by the ambulance service that a second boy had been injured nearby.

Both boys suffered head injuries and were taken to hospital, but neither was thought to be in a life-threatening condition, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said.

Police said they are investigating whether the incidents, at two locations in close proximity in High Street on Sunday, were linked.

No-one has been arrested and no firearm has been recovered.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman, who said the younger victim is 13 and not 12 as previously believed, had suffered a shotgun pellet wound to the head.

Palmerston Road, just off Wealdstone High Street, was blocked off with police tape and manned by uniformed officers on Sunday evening.

A grey Adidas sweatshirt with blood stains on the hood lay crumpled on the ground outside a Specsavers store along with a police exhibit number.

A shopkeeper said the youngster was "lucky to be alive" and they believe a bullet grazed the back of his head.

The manager of a betting shop, who did not give his name, said he was passing by on his lunch break and saw people gathered outside Specsavers around a black man on the ground.

He said: "He was holding his head down. I could not see his face but could see his white t-shirt was proper covered in blood.

"He was sitting calmly as the paramedics were looking after him."

He described Wealdstone as a "kind of rough area and it can be a bit aggressive".

He added that "seeing police around here is just another day" and he was used to seeing boys "just hanging around" in the street.

A green first aid bag could be seen behind the cordon as forensics officers took photographs and passers-by were diverted from the scene.