Boxer shot in smoking row dies
Former British heavyweight boxer James Oyebola has died after being kept on a life-support machine since being shot in the head after a row at a bar.
Mr Oyebola, 47, was shot at the back of Chateau 6 in Fulham Road, south-west London, in the early hours of Monday, after asking customers to stop smoking.
Police said he died at 1239 BST after his life-support was switched off. Family and friends were at his bedside.
Police say the shooting is now a murder inquiry and have called for witnesses.
Det Ch Insp Scott Wilson said: “This is now a murder inquiry and we need the people who were in the club that night to come forward as they may have information that could help us piece together what happened last Sunday night.
“James’s family are devastated. I would urge anyone with information to come forward to police and assist us in bringing those responsible for murdering James to justice.”
Officers from Operation Trident, which deals with gun violence within the black community, have searched three addresses in the Wandsworth area in connection with the shooting.
Three suspects
Doctors had declared Mr Oyebola brain dead on Thursday.
Police said he was shot after asking three men to stop smoking in a covered courtyard area at the back of the bar, on the Fulham Road.
Police believe three black suspects, aged between 19 and 25, ran from the club in separate directions.
Mr Oyebola, who was born in Nigeria, won 18 of his 23 fights and was a bronze medallist at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
He won the WBC international heavyweight title in 1993 and retired in 1996.
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Published: 2007/07/27 13:46:39 GMT
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