In the early morning of 24 September 2006, Daniel Ross was one of nearly 1,000 people enjoying a night out at the Scala nightclub in King’s Cross.
He was walking across the dancefloor to tell his friends he was leaving when a gun was fired by an as-yet-unidentified gunman.
The bullet hit Daniel in the head and he collapsed to the ground as hundreds of people fled the club by the fire exits.
By the time the police arrived, in response to a 999 call at around 3.45am, most of the people there that night – including Daniel’s friends – had left.
One of the few remaining was a female stranger who stayed behind to try and help the victim.
Daniel was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead at 5.22pm the same day. He was 22 years old.
The Metropolitan Police began a murder investigation but soon ran out of leads. To this day the case remains unsolved despite repeated public appeals by Daniel’s family.
On the 14th anniversary of the killing, his mother Jean again urged witnesses to come forward and reveal who was responsible.
We appeal to anyone in our community and beyond who have information about Daniel’s death to examine their conscience, and come forward and tell us what they know. We know that nothing can bring Daniel back but we can bring those responsible for his death to justice. To the sad person(s) who took Daniel’s life, do the honourable thing, and give yourself up.
As a family we continue to mourn Daniel. He is never far from our minds. We have endured an emotional rollercoaster of anger, grief, pity, despair and, disbelief that people around us refuse to share the information they have about our son’s murderer. There are no words that could describe the pain we feel for not having Daniel in our lives.
Fourteen years is too long to wait for justice
Statement from the parents of Daniel Ross
Mrs Ross has said that she does not know why Daniel was killed that night. While he had come to police attention before, he was focusing on being a father to his two young children.
He had spent the previous evening with his parents and was in their garden when he received a phone call. Whatever was said, he decided to go to the Heartless Crew music event at Scala nightclub at late notice.
Daniel was wearing a blue ‘AJ’ top when he arrived at the club on his own at 1am. It is not clear what happened over the next three hours, but in 2010 detectives with the (since-disbanded) Trident squad said that they were unlikely to solve the case until his friends come forward with information.
Ten years later a new investigation team issued a further appeal for information that could lead to a “breakthrough” and offered a £10,000 reward.
I hope that after 14 years someone may now feel able to come forward and provide information that may lead to identifying those responsible for this callous murder. No detail is too small. It is not too late to do the right thing.
The Metropolitan Police never closes unsolved murders. We are continually looking for new leads to help charge those responsible for Daniel’s murder and give his family the justice they have been waiting for. We will deal with any information provided to us in the strictest of confidence.
Detective Inspector Will Reynolds
To provide information, contact the incident room on 0208 785 8267 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.