TWO WOMEN SHOT IN GANG ATTACKS Detectives probe separate strikes in Manchester
TWO women have been shot within eight hours of each other amid fears of escalating gang warfare in Greater Manchester.
A 65-year-old was blasted in the leg in Clifton area on Friday evening with what are thought to be shotgun pellets and is in a stable condition in hospital.
And a 33-year-old woman was shot in Middleton in the early hours of yesterday while getting out of a car. She too was hit in the legs and is being treated for serious wounds in hospital, although her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Detectives are treating the incidents separately but have not ruled out if one or both are connected to gang warfare.
Ballistics tests were being carried out yesterday at both scenes, which are around five miles apart.
It is not yet known what kind of weap- ons were used. The Salford area, where the first took place, has been rocked by a string of shootings and firearm incidents in the past three years – many of them linked to criminal gangs.
Chief Inspector Julie Ellison,lison, of GMP’s Salford borough, saidaid of the first shooting: “We undernderstand that an incident like this will cause concern in the local area. But we have increasedd patrols to reassure the communityunity and a significant team of officficers are working on thee investigation.
“This happened at a busy sy time on a Friday evening, so o somebody must have been inn the area and seen something. ng. We are doing all that we can to identify those responsible and will provide updates to the public as our investigation progresses.”
In January, police said they were “very concerned concerned” about a spate of shootings in
the Greater Man Manchester area in which eight people were hit in two weeks – with at least six of them connected to criminal warfare.
Much of the trouble in the past 12 months has been linked to the killing of Salford mayoral candidate Paul Massey.
The former Mr Big, 55, was shot with a sub-machine gun outside his home in Clifton in July last year. The killing of the security firm boss sparked a string of retaliation shootings in and around the city, including that of a 29-year-old woman and her seven-year-old son.
Police offered a £50,000 reward to find the assassin, who was believed to be linked to one of the rival gangs in Salford fighting a turf war. No one has so far come forward with any information.