Shooting horror on school run
‘Target’ thought to be a friend of dead gangster
TERRIFIED parents rushed to collect their children after a gangland shooting near a primary school.
Armed police were called to Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, after a ‘man with a gun’ was spotted as pupils made their way home.
The incident happened just as children left St Helen’s Primary School, with many being rushed back inside the building by teachers.
Others were bundled into cars by their parents, as they fled the scene.
Residents have reported hearing three gunshots, while a burnt-out car was found less than a mile from the scene.
Police last night confirmed a man had been shot and said he received ‘non life-threatening injuries’.
CHILDREN fled in terror yesterday after a man was injured in a gangland shooting near a primary school.
Armed police were deployed as pupils were leaving for the day after a sighting of a ‘man with a gun’ firing in the street outside.
Some children were told to go back indoors, while others were bundled into cars by terrified parents waiting to collect them.
Text messages were sent to parents of children at other local schools warning them of an emergency.
In extraordinary scenes in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow, residents reported three shots being fired near St Helen’s Primary School.
The target of the attack was named locally as Ross Sherlock, a former close associate of gangster Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll. In 2010, Carroll was shot
‘A nutter running around with a gun’
dead in an Asda car park in the Robroyston area of Glasgow, less than a mile from yesterday’s incident.
Sherlock, 34, who was a pallbearer at Carroll’s funeral, is thought to have received non-life threatening injuries in the latest incident.
It is understood a man received hospital treatment yesterday, but it was unclear whether it was Sherlock.
Two men were reportedly seen fleeing the scene – one wearing a high-visibility workman’s vest – with police in pursuit.
Officers were sent to St Helen’s at around 3pm, as pupils from the school and from Bishopbriggs Academy and Turnbull High were heading home.
A burnt-out car was later cordoned off at a nearby park, while families were told to stay indoors following the incident.
A parent of a Turnbull High pupil said: ‘ The police had advised the school to keep the pupils in and then we got another text message saying it was safe to send them home.’
Nicola Boyle, 44, was picking her daughter up from St Helen’s Primary when she saw two men fleeing. She said: ‘We were coming out of the school and I saw one of the guys in a grey zippedup top running away, as though he was being chased.
‘I watched him jump over a hedge or fence. Then I saw another guy take off round the lane wearing a yellow workman’s jacket. The other parents were really confused by it and one girl started crying because she knew it was gun shots. She was crying out, “Where’s my sister, where’s my sister?”’
Local resident Amarjit Sandhu, 65, said: ‘It’s very bad, I never thought it would happen here. It’s like America.’
A woman who lives close to the scene, but asked not to be named, said: ‘It’s frightening that some nutter could be running around with a gun.
‘This is a nice area and it is usually very quiet. You don’t expect to hear about people being shot at in the street.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘ Police officers responded to a report of man with a gun in Dornoch Place, Bishopbriggs around 3.10pm.
‘Extensive inquiries are ongoing to establish the exact circumstances. Additional police patrols are in the area to provide public reassurance.’
East Dunbartonshire Council confirmed an incident was being investigated by police. Director of education Gordon Currie said: ‘As it is a Police Scotland matter, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.’