Four weeks after the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Shaquan Fearon in Brockley, more than 300 people concerned about increasing violence in the area filled the Honor Oak Community Centre, alongside his grieving family.
Emotions ran high throughout the meeting as councillors, Metropolitan Police officers and MP for Lewisham Deptford Vicky Foxcroft faced the audience of people affected by the ongoing knife crime epidemic, not only in Lewisham but across the capital.
On September 3 Shaquan, who lived with his mother Sharon in Crofton Park, was knifed to death while he was walking with a friend to the centre in Turnham Road - the heart of the community which remains under threat of being ripped down for housing.
The 17-year-old became the third teenager murdered in Lewisham in the last six months.
Spalding House on Turnham Road, where Shaquan Fearon (inset) was fatally stabbed.
Before last night's meeting Shaquan's godmother Sharon Hunter-Cobbina said there has been "too much tragedy" in the local area.
Addressing the crowd Ms Hunter-Cobbina said: "It's important that public servants who are responsible for our safety and well-being are held to account by the community they serve especially in times of crisis - and we have been in crisis for some time.
"We all know this is not new. That the recent deaths of Shaquan and Nassem have driven this reality home to us even deeper."
Shaquan's family sat beside the relatives of Andre Smartt-Ford, who was shot dead infront of 300 people at Streatham Ice Rink in 2007 when he was just 17-years-old.
In a passionate address race relations activist Lee Jasper told the crowd: "The most basic and fundamental question we have to ask yourselves is what value we place on our own lives and the lives of our children."
Shaquan's godmother Sharon Hunter-Cobbina addresses the crowd.
Chief Inspector Graham Price, who heads up Lewisham's partnership and safer neighbourhoods team, appealed with the community members to work together with the police.
To jeers from the crowd, he stated "this is not a war zone".
He added: "Honor Oak estate when I came did have a bad reputation and things did happen on the estate.
"There has been two absolutely tragic events in recent weeks. Obviously we have to note that and think about what the winder implications are."
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Telegraph Hill councillor Paul Bell said the Turnham Road estate has faced a "tough time" recently.
He said: "You have every right to be angry but we have to have hope and we have to take action.
"It tears the heart out of our community when we see this going on."
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