Trident officers probe Forest Gate killing

Detectives launched a murder investigation today after a man was fatally shot outside a block of flats.

Police and paramedics were called to the street outside Whyteville House, Forest Gate, shortly after 1am, when residents heard gunfire.

They discovered a man, believed to be in his twenties, with at least one gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to hospital by ambulance but was pronounced dead about three hours later.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said five people were arrested in surrounding streets. They all remain in custody at separate police stations.

Officers from Scotland Yard's Trident unit, which specialises in investigating gun crime in the black community, are conducting the murder hunt.