Murdered teenager 'had no enemies', says girlfriend

A promising footballer shot dead in the street had no enemies and was murdered in a case of mistaken identity, his girlfriend said.

Rio McFarlane, 18, was found by police with a single gunshot wound and died at the scene in Peckham, south London, on Monday night.

Officers were alerted to the murder after hearing a gunshot on Pearse Street at 9.30pm.

Mr McFarlane had trials with Arsenal and Blackpool and was planning to go to university after studying sports science at an academy, it was reported.

The teenager's girlfriend Candice Nunes, 16, told The Sun: "Everyone loved Rio and no one had anything bad to say about him. It was an accident, it wasn't meant to be for him."

Two men aged 21 and 18 were arrested near the scene and later bailed. A third man, aged 22, was arrested on Tuesday and was also bailed.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr McFarlane died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

A murder investigation was opened under Det Ch Insp Tony Boughton, from Operation Trident, police said.

:: Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8247 4553 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.