6:30am Friday 12th January 2007
By Benedict Moore-Bridger
NEIGHBOURS have spoken of their fear following the shooting of a teenager by an armed gang on a Northolt estate.
The 18-year-old was shot in the face through his letterbox on Monday in what is thought to be a drug-related attack.
And the Ealing Times can now reveal a six-month history of trouble at the teenager's address in Kneller Court, Academy Gardens.
A mother-of-two, who asked not to be named because she fears for her safety, claimed the night before the shooting three men were trying to smash down the teenager's door.
She said: "There were two or three guys trying to break his door in and trying to smash in his kitchen window.
"They were out there for about an hour in the middle of the night.
"It must be connected. I was going to call the police but ended up ringing my partner to come over."
She claims the teenager is a well-known drug-dealer on the estate.
She said: "We have been trying to get him out for ages. One day last summer one of his 'clients', as I call them, turned up in my house. I went nuts over it.
"My daughter used to play outside but now she is too scared."
Our source, who has lived in the block for five years, said gangs of scary-looking men were "always hanging around".
She continued: "It is not unusual. Trouble started last summer and has just got worse. There are always a lot of people coming in and out and banging on his door.
"It has started to get really bad. At weekends I take myself off to my mum's just in case something kicks off."
Gunfire was reported at the block of flats on Monday afternoon at 4pm.
When police and medical crews arrived they found the teenager suffering from "non-life threatening facial injuries" but the teenager refused to be treated by ambulance workers.
Two other men, aged 23 and 39, who were in the property at the time were not injured.
Another neighbour, who also asked not to be named, said trouble near the flats was commonplace.
"You hear so many bangs and noises you grow accustomed to it," she said.
Police say the five-strong gang are all described as black men in their late teens and were seen outside the address moments before the shooting took place.
Three people have been arrested in connection with the attack. They are being held at a west London police station.
DC Mark Ellis, from Operation Trafalgar, said: "This shooting could have resulted in someone sustaining a serious injury and we are keen to speak to anyone who saw these men at the block of flats prior to the incident, or leaving the scene after the shooting had taken place.
"All calls to us will be treated in the strictest of confidence."
Anyone with information can call the Incident Room on 020 8217 7377 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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