A youth slain in a stabbing in south London overnight is believed to be the second rapper killed from a “drill” music collective, as London’s bloody crime wave continues.
The brutal killing came just hours after Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick played down rates of violence in the capital by insisting attack numbers were stabilising.
The victim, thought to be the rapper “Incognito”, 23, was killed on the same street as another member of his drill music group Moscow17, the Metro reports.
Bandmate Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton was shot and murdered in broad daylight just three months ago.
Two others were injured in the attack that occurred around 7:20 pm on Warham Street, Camberwell, Wednesday night.
Incognito was pronounced dead at the scene. The two further victims were taken to the hospital, with the London Air Ambulance involved in the operation.
Two men arrested nearby on suspicion of murder remain in custody and a police cordon is in place around the crime scene.
A Met spokesman said: “Despite the best efforts of medical staff, one of the men, died at the scene. Officers are in the process of informing his next-of-kin.
“The two other males have been taken to hospital where we await updates on their conditions. A crime scene is in place.
“Two men were arrested close to the scene on suspicion of murder. They remain in police custody.”
One the same day as the stabbing, London police appealed for information after two shootings in northeast London and a stabbing in east London in recent weeks.
The sharp rise in killings in London earlier in the year saw the city’s murder rate surge past that of New York City for the first time, with knife attacks a major factor.
Earlier this month, official data revealed that more than 90 percent of recorded crimes in Britain are not ending in a charge or police action.
As homicide and violent crime – including knife, gun, and sex attacks – continue to rise, the proportion of crimes resulting in a charge or summons actually fell by two percentage points in a year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), meanwhile, revealed that over the same time period, sexual offences have risen by 31 percent, knife and sharp implement attacks by 16 percent, and homicides by 12 percent.