Age: 25
Sex: male
Date: 21 Jun 2019
Place: Exeter House, Water Mill Way, Feltham
Edward Simpson was shot in a playground at Exeter House on Water Mill Way in Feltham, at around 11.08pm on 21 June 2019.
The shotgun used to shoot him was later found and several people were convicted of firearms offences.
Edward Simpson was said to have been shot by a rival drug dealer.
Following his murder the police said that they were trying to trace a 14-year-old youth who was seen fleeing on a bicycle.
Edward Simpson died at the scene. His cause of death was given as being due to a gunshot wound to the upper body.
Neighbours heard his screams as he was shot.
Another neighbour said that the gun shot shook the walls of their home. The neighbour said, 'He was shot right next to the playground. I last saw him only hours earlier and he looked like he’d been beaten up. I think he had lots of enemies'.
It was noted that Edward Simpson was thought to have been hunted by the police earlier in March 2019 for harassment offences for which he was arrested but later released and at the time of his murder was described by the police as a fugitive.
Three people were arrested in relation to his murder, but nothing more is known. They were:
The gun used to shoot Edward Simpson was later found by the police. They had been carrying out what was described as a complex investigation with specialist detectives over a number of years into the supply of firearms. The investigation comprised two parts, the first part being launched in early 2019 which included surveillance at a property in Toovey’s Mill Close where they believed firearms were being stored. They witnessed an exchange of a firearm between two people inside the property and when a man and another man left with the gun in a taxi the police stopped it and arrested them.
However, following Edward Simpson's murder the police carried out surveillance in the area of Northwood Recreation Ground in Hillingdon where they saw a black 4x4 Mercedes pull up and a number of men get out and enter the park and enter a hedgerow there with a torch and then leave. The police said that they didn't see them retrieve anything, but said that when they went to look they found a black bag containing a loaded firearm after which they had the men in the Mercedes arrested.
When the firearm in the bag was examined it was found to be a pump action shotgun and was later determined to have been the same weapon that was used to kill Edward Simpson. It was later determined that the gun had been placed there beforehand on 24 June 2019.
Following the discoveries, eight men were convicted for firearms offences between February and May 2020, including:
However, no one was charged with Edward Simpson's murder.
Edward Simpson had been from Feltham.