Updated at 13:30

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL is one of two people critically injured in a shooting at a grocery shop in Brixton, south London, last night.

The Metropolitan Police said today that the child was shot in the chest and an unrelated 35-year-old man was shot in the face at around 9.15pm when a gunman fired into the open door of the shop.

Two youths were chased into the shop by three others on bicycles shortly before the shooting, and one of the three on bikes is believed to have fired into the premises.

Investigators are appealing to witnesses to come forward.

DCI Tony Boughton told ITN that the male victim lived above the store and the young girl in the shop while visiting relatives. He said they were not the intended targets and the child’s condition remains serious, but stable.

The BBC reports that the local community has reacted with shock to the shooting.

One local businessman, Barny Stutter, who owns a bicycle shop, said that the area had recovered from its bad reputation and local shopkeepers were “absolutely disgusted” with what had happened.

ITN report: police describe the attack: