Shotgun gang rob cafe customers

AN armed gang burst into a cafe and robbed customers before making their getaway in a white Range Rover – belonging to one of the victims and a white BMW 3 Series.

Three raiders – carrying a shotgun, a machete and a baseball bat – launched their attack in Manchester at around 10.30am yesterday.

The gang demanded that customers hand over their personal belongings and a set of car keys.

Three members of the public, aged in their 20s, who were in the cafe in the Moss Side district, two miles from the city centre, were taken to hospital.

Police said their injuries were not thought to be serious.

Officers later found the stolen Range Rover on Bowland Drive in nearby Fallowfield.

Police said four men aged 18, 19, 23 and 58 and two other males aged 17 have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

Superintendent Mark Dexter said: ‘Thankfully no one was seriously injured but the victims have been left understandably shaken following this incident.

‘It is thanks to the swift action of our officers that we now have six men in custody but this investigation is still very much ongoing. We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who saw what happened, or anyone with dashcam footage of the BMW or Range Rover.’

Last August, two children were among ten people hurt in a shooting on the same weekend as the area’s annual Caribbean Carnival.