Boy shot dead in his Clapham North home (From Your Local Guardian)

Boy shot dead in his Clapham North home

9:08am Thursday 15th February 2007 in Wandsworth By Rosa Silverman

A 15-year-old boy was shot dead yesterday at his home near Clapham North Tube station at 3.40pm.

Billy Cox was pronounced dead by paramedics who found him in his house in Fenwick Place, Clapham North.

Reports suggest his body was found by his sister, Elizabeth, who dialled 999.

His parents have been informed of his killing and a postmortem examination is due to take place today.

According to police Billy had one white and one Thai parent.

Billy had been enrolled at Ernest Bevin College in Tooting but had been taught in Kennington for the past six weeks. He was in training to enter the construction industry.

A spokesman for the college said: "Staff and students at the college are deeply saddened at the tragic loss of this young life. William was a lively and likeable young man who participated fully in school life.

"He was interested in pursuing a career in the construction industry and had recently started studying at another educational facility in order to gain greater knowledge in this field, and was planning to start a college course next September."

The Metropolitan Police's Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, has called a meeting for this morning to discuss the recent spate of schoolboys being killed across south London in the last 10 days.

He will meet with colleagues from the Specialist Crime Directory - which includes Operation Trident, which is responsible for investigating gun crime in the black community.

James Andre Smartt-Ford, a 16-year-old, was shot at Streatham Ice Areana on February 3. He was gunned down in front of other skaters during an ice disco.

A second boy, Michael Dosunmu, was shot and killed after gunmen broke into his Peckham home in the early hours of February 6. He had celebrated his 15th birthday just a few days earlier.

• Click here for the estate's reaction to the shooting. Click here to leave your tribute for Billy Cox or message of support for his family.