Prominent Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson is in a critical condition after being shot, her political party says.

Taking the Initiative Party said she was being treated in intensive care (ICU) after being shot in the head in the early hours of Sunday morning.

According to BBC, the incident happened in south London.

The Metropolitan Police said a 27-year-old woman was shot shortly before 03:00 at a gathering in Southwark.

The force has not confirmed the woman’s identity.

Officers said the woman was taken to a south London hospital with life-threatening injuries and have appealed for witnesses. Her family has been informed.

Police said at this stage there was no evidence to suggest it was a targeted shooting or that she had received any credible threats against her prior to the incident.

Detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command have been conducting inquiries at the scene in Consort Road and the surrounding area, and are pursuing a number of lines.

It is believed that the shooting occurred near a house where a party was taking place and that a number of people may have been in the area, a Met police statement said.

Ms. Johnson, a graduate of Oxford Brookes University, has been a leading figure in the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK and is a member of the Taking the Initiative Party’s leadership committee.

In a statement on Instagram, the party said Ms. Johnson was a mother of two, and a “powerful voice” who had always been fighting for black people and the injustices that surround the black community.