Gunfight inside Turnmills!!!!

[bigpoppanils]

Man shot dead in 'gangland' car chase

So Solid Crew member fails to arrive at launch party before shooting spree in nightclub spills on to street and ends in death

Steven Morris

Tuesday April 22, 2003

The Guardian

A man was shot dead during a high-speed chase involving two sports cars after an Easter dance event at a popular London nightclub.

The incident began when a group of men burst into the club, which was due to host the launch night of the debut single of Lisa Maffia, a singer with the notorious garage group So Solid Crew.

Shots were fired and a man was injured in the shoulder. In the chase which followed, witnesses said gunfire was exchanged between the two cars. One crashed and a 27-year-old man was found dead in the passenger seat with a bullet wound to his head.

Officers from Operation Trident, the Scotland Yard unit set up to tackle violence within the black community, were investigating the incident. It is thought the men were members of rival gangs.

Around 300 people were attending an all-night Easter party at the Turnmills club in Clerkenwell, central London. Lisa Maffia was at the top of the bill, but her appearance was cancelled at the last minute.

At around 2.30am, six to eight men forced their way past doormen into the club. Shots were fired and a 27-year-old man was hit in the shoulder. As clubbers dived for cover or ran for the exits, two groups of men left the club and got into two sports cars.

There was a short chase along Clerkenwell Road, and witnesses said shots were fired between the cars. The chase ended when one of the cars hit a parked car, and the other drove away.

A 27-year-old man was found dead in the passenger seat of the car which crashed, with a gunshot would to the head.

One man in his mid 20s was arrested outside the club.

The club and streets around it remained sealed off yesterday. Officers undertook a fingertip search of the pavement outside the club. No weapons were recovered but ammunition which was found is being examined.

Pritin Patel, 25, an IT technician from Harrow, north-west London, who was at Turnmills, said he had seen a group of around eight people "running and shouting" through the club.

He said: "I was in the House room on the ground floor of the club with a group of friends. I saw a whole bunch of guys come running through the club. There were about eight of them and I thought there had been a fight."

Scotland Yard confirmed that officers from Operation Trident were involved in the investigation.

Detectives will be examining why So Solid's Lisa Maffia did not appear at the event.

The 30-strong group of rappers and DJs with a large following in south London, has attracted unfavourable headlines since two people were shot at a London Astoria show. Last year the group's Ashley Walters was sentenced to 18 months for carrying a loaded revolver.

The group's association with gun violence was back in the headlines earlier this year after two Birmingham girls died when they were caught in the crossfire between rival gangs during a New Year party.

As the debate over the shootings focused on the part rap music may have had to play, the culture minister, Kim Howells, branded So Solid Crew "idiots" for "glorifying gun culture and violence".

In recent years, Turnmills has become one of London's most popular clubs. Many famous DJs have entertained there and it pioneered clubbing on a Sunday night.

But it has a colourful past. The notorious north London criminal clan, the Adams family, were at one time involved in the club, and "Mad" Frankie Fraser - a member of the Richardson gang which feuded with the Krays during the 60s - was shot outside it.

[vixenfoxxy]

DAMN! why do these nad heads always have to go do shit like this? it gives the venues a bad name and oh, did we mention that people get killed and that's bad?

[someclown]

Remind me not to hire So Solid Crew to sing at one of my "open mike" nights....