A seven-year-old girl is in a life-threatening condition, while four women and another girl were also taken to hospital, after a shooting outside a funeral near Euston station in central London.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Phoenix Road at 1.30pm on Saturday to reports of a shooting.

Police initially said the seven-year-old girl and three women – aged 48, 54, and 41 – were taken to hospital after the incident. The 48-year-old woman’s injuries are potentially life-changing.

In an update, they confirmed the seven-year-old girl’s condition is life-threatening and gave details of two others hurt.

A 21-year-old woman was taken to hospital and details of her condition have not been released.

A second child, a 12-year-old girl, was also taken to hospital with a minor leg injury but has since been discharged.

‘Urgent investigation’ is underway

Detectives said the incident took place in the vicinity of a church, where a funeral was taking place.

Police said their initial inquiries suggest shots were fired from a moving vehicle, which was then driven away from the scene.

Police said no arrests have been made yet and an “urgent investigation” is under way.

Two children injured in ‘shocking’ incident

Superintendent Ed Wells said: “Any shooting incident is unacceptable, but for multiple people, including two children, to be injured in a shooting in the middle of a Saturday afternoon is shocking.

“Our thoughts are with all the victims, but in particular with the seven-year-old girl who is in a life-threatening condition and with her family.”

Queen Macaulay, who was visiting a friend in the area at the time of the incident, said she heard a gunshot and saw people running.

She told Sky News: “Everyone was running… it was quite chaotic.

“We heard people screaming and saying ‘oh my god’… I was thinking oh my god what’s going on, let’s get to safety.”

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said the force treated four people at the scene, one of whom was taken to a major trauma centre, as a priority.

‘Deeply distressing’

They added that three ambulance crews and five paramedics in fast-response cars were among those who were called to the scene.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan described the incident as “deeply distressing”.

He said: “This is a deeply distressing incident and my thoughts are with those who were injured and their families.

“A police investigation is now underway and I am in close contact with the Met Police to determine what happened.”