GUN HORROR
10 injured - including a 12-year-old – as shots fired into crowd at party GMP: We could have been dealing with multiple murders Terrified children knocked on stranger’s door to escape gunfire Community stays strong in face of attack
TEN people, including a 12-year-old and a teenager, were taken to hospital injured after shots were fired in a huge crowd during a street party.
The victims suffered ‘pellet-type’ wounds to their legs in Moss Side, police said. One man badly broke his leg.
Detectives are investigating the motive and said the shooting was being treated as attempted murder.
They believe a weapon, possibly a shotgun, was fired within a crowd at least twice. Two more people went to hospital later.
Police chiefs said a ‘state of panic’ broke out as officers raced to treat the injured after more than 200 people gathered on Claremont Road in the early hours of yesterday.
The street party followed the first day of the Caribbean Carnival in Moss Side, but police stressed the shooting was not being linked to the annual cultural celebration and procession at Alexandra Park.
Police said last night that five people remained in hospital. None of the injuries were said to be lifethreatening.
Chf Supt Wasim Chaudhry said victims’ ages ranged from 12 into the 50s – a mixture of men and women – and the parents of the children were present.
Two other people presented at hospital yesterday afternoon to be checked over, but neither were injured.
Chf Supt Chaudhry said a motive for the attack remained ‘unclear’ but said the weapon appeared to have been fired at close range. He said it was also unclear whether the attack was targeted, but confirmed it wasn’t being treated as ‘gang-related’.
He added: “We could have been dealing with life-threatening injuries and we could indeed be investigating multiple murders. These people need to be caught and I’d urge the community to pull together and work with the police.
“It’s imperative that we catch these people and that we recover the firearm involved.”
Detectives vowed to work ‘round the clock’ to investigate and police patrols in the area have been stepped up.
Chf Supt Chaudhry said: “Thankfully the injuries suffered do not appear to be as serious as first believed and, hopefully, people will begin to leave hospital.
“This was a reckless act that could have had devastating consequences with families and friends losing loved ones. Letting off a firearm in a crowd of people can result in devastating consequences and I am just thankful that no one has died as a result and that no one is in a lifethreatening condition.”
GMP is appealing for witnesses
and assessing footage from CCTV cameras to establish what exactly happened. Detailed forensic investigations continued throughout yesterday.
Armed police raced to the scene at 2.30am yesterday after reports of a series of ‘bangs’.
“What they were faced with was a large crowd of a number of hundred people, several hundred people, in the area who were continuing to celebrate the Caribbean Carnival,” said Chf Supt Chaudhry.
“A number of those people had been injured and there was a state of panic which our officers had to contend and deal with.
“Following on from that it was established that 10 people received injuries which we believe are related to gunshots. At the moment those are pellet injuries, as they have been described, so our working hypothesis is it’s probably a shotgun discharge.
“How many times it has been discharged isn’t clear at this stage and forms part of our investigation. It would be obvious to any particular person that discharging a firearm in a large crowd like this is completely reckless.”
No arrests had been made in connection with the shooting last night and no descriptions of any suspects revealed.
The carnival, in nearby Alexandra Park, went ahead for a second day yesterday. Police said there had been no arrests at the carnival on Saturday and confirmed it finished at 8pm, sixand-a-half hours before the shooting.
Patrols in the area are being stepped up. Chf Supt Chaudhry said: “The community is likely to feel concerned and that’s completely understandable. Guns have no place on our streets and we want to assure you we are doing everything we can to find the person or people responsible.”
Anyone with any information should call police on 0161 856 4166 quoting incident number 297 of 12 August or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.