Clapham alkaline attack: Met Police name suspect Abdul Ezedi after 12 people injured

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Detectives are hunting a suspect with significant facial injuries after a mother and her three-year-old daughter suffered horrific injuries when a corrosive substance was thrown in their faces.

An eight-year-old girl was also wounded after the family-of-three was doused with an alkaline substance in Clapham, south London, on Wednesday night, in a shocking attack which also left passersby and first responders with burns.

Click here for live updates from the scene.

Witnesses have told how the mother, 31, screamed for help after a man – who is said to be known to the family – launched the substance and slammed the toddler to the ground “like a ragdoll” before fleeing the scene.

Metropolitan Police detectives revealed the suspect is Abdul Shokoor Ezedi, 35, from Northumbria, in a press conference on Thursday afternoon.

Members of the public were warned not to approach Ezedi, who is likely to have significant injuries to the right side of his face, and dial 999.

He was last spotted on CCTV in the Caledonian Road area of north London and it is thought he could be heading back to the Newcastle area where he is from.

Superintendent Gabriel Cameron said it was a “horrific crime” against a “vulnerable female”, adding: “We will catch him, I’m wholeheartedly confident.”

Officers have described the incident as a “targeted attack”, confirming Ezedi is thought to be known to the mother, although police do not yet know the nature of their relationship.

The three victims were in a stable condition in hospital on Thursday, although the mother and toddler could be left with potentially life-changing injuries, police said.

Witnesses have claimed the attacker was arguing with the mother in the street after getting out of a car in Lessar Avenue. Shortly afterwards, she began screaming “my eyes, my eyes – call the police,” it was reported.

Shannon Christi, 35, said she ran outside on hearing the mother scream for help, before seeing a man in black throwing a child to the floor twice “like he was in the wrestling ring”.

Without hesitation she ran towards him and grabbed the three-year-old girl off the floor and brought her inside to safety. Her partner dressed in his slippers ran after the suspect chasing him away down the street.

She told The Independent: “I heard screaming ‘help, help’ and came outside. I saw the man throwing the girl on the floor like he was in a wrestling ring. He was angry.

“I rushed in and grabbed her. I didn’t see what he looked like or where he went I was focussed on her. I poured water on her and called the ambulance.

“The child was crying she told me her name and she was three but I couldn’t hear her through the tears.”

Another eyewitness described the horrifying moment the younger girl was slammed to the floor twice like a “ragdoll” by the suspect – who had climbed out of the same car as the mother and two girls.

“It was horrendous I have not slept a wink since. I saw what I thought was a normal accident but then I saw him come out walk to the back passenger side and take a child out,” she told The Independent.

“He lifted the young child up extended his arms up above his head and throw her to the floor like a ragdoll. I thought she was dead, everyone was screaming ‘stop’ and ‘call the police’.”

The attacker then attempted to escape in a car but crashed into another vehicle before he made off on foot in the direction of Clapham Common.

The family-of-three are thought to have been staying at the nearby Belvedere Hotel, where staff confirmed they are supporting the guests affected.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the incident as a “ghastly attack”.

“It’s frightening. This is a ghastly attack. But everything we know points this to being two people who know each other. It’s not random,” Sir Mark Rowley told BBC Radio London, adding that mother and youngest daughter’s burns were “potentially substantial”.

The suspect is believed to have used a corrosive alkaline substance, but Supt Gabriel Cameron said he did not know whether it was a household product such as bleach or oven cleaner.

Police were called at 7.25pm and five officers were treated and have since left hospital after they were hurt responding to the attack.

He also paid tribute to three women, two in their 30s and one in her 50s, who attended hospital with minor burns after they bravely came to aid the mother children, and a man in his 50s who was treated at the scene.

“All these members of the public, and my officers, deserve enormous recognition and praise for coming to the aid of this woman and children in what must have been a terrifying scenario,” he said.

“I also want to commend nearby hotel staff after victims and officers sought refuge and water there following the incident.”

He added: “Our investigation is in its early stages and we are working to establish why this awful incident has happened.

“Officers from across the Met are working with partner agencies and forces to locate and arrest the man. While this appears a targeted attack, he is a dangerous individual and we urgently need to find him.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan said the incident was “truly shocking”, adding that corrosive substances are “offensive weapons”.

“Just as we are taking action, in terms of a public health approach, towards guns and knives, so we have got to do the same with this kind of stuff as well,” he told BBC Radio 4’s World At One.

Streatham MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy hailed the actions of the “absolute heroes” who stepped in grabbing the youngest child away and chasing off the attacker.

She told The Independent: “They are amazing. They are true heroes, honestly, they came out at complete risk to themselves and did what they had to do to keep people safe.”