A teenage cyclist was chased and fatally shot by youths riding a high-performance electric dirt bike in a killing linked to gang rivalry, a court has heard.
Details of the Shooting
Keanu Harker, 18, was struck in the head and chest as he rode from his home in Enfield, North London, on the evening of June 26 2025. The alleged gunmen, Emmanuel Popoola and Tayvon Etefia, both now 18, are accused of his murder.
Opening their trial on Wednesday, prosecutor Louise Oakley KC stated the killing occurred against a backdrop of violent incidents stemming from rivalry between two Enfield gangs: the 3x3 gang and the Get Money Gang (GMG).
The Incident
Mr. Harker left his Enfield home shortly after 8:30 a.m. and rode his bicycle along the A10, Great Cambridge Road. Two males on a Sur-Ron electric dirt bike appeared to follow him, prompting the victim to ride hard in an apparent attempt to escape, Oakley said.
Etefia was the rider controlling the handles, while Popoola sat behind him as a passenger on the electric bike, it was alleged. Oakley said: 'The speed of the Sur-Ron bike that Emmanuel Popoola and Tayvon Etefia were on meant they gained ground on Keanu Harker very quickly and, as they rode alongside him, Emmanuel Popoola shot him.'
He fired three shots from very close range. Two struck Keanu Harker in the head and chest. Tayvon Etefia did not flinch. Keanu Harker immediately fell off his bicycle onto the road. He was fatally injured but managed to crawl a short distance into the front garden of a residential address just off the Great Cambridge Road. Emmanuel Popoola and Tayvon did not stop; they continued to make their escape.
Aftermath
Alerted by the gunshots, witnesses found Mr. Harker's bicycle lying in the road covered in blood. They followed a blood trail leading to the stricken teenager slumped in a doorway, bleeding from wounds to his head and chest. Emergency services arrived within minutes, and Mr. Harker was taken to the Royal London Hospital, where he died just before 11 p.m.
After the shooting, Popoola and Etefia allegedly rode to Enfield Town Park, where they dumped the Sur-Ron bike and other items. They were allegedly driven away in a Ford Focus by Eliezer Mbaki, 25. In the hours and days that followed, a 17-year-old youth and Anais King, 19, allegedly provided further assistance. King is accused of helping Popoola by booking and paying for a Eurostar ticket from London to Paris on June 28 2025, two days after the shooting.
Court Proceedings
Popoola and Etefia, both from Enfield, deny murder and possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life. Mbaki, from Tottenham, north London; King, from Enfield; and the youth, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, deny perverting the course of justice. The trial at the Old Bailey continues.
