Three gunmen who open fire on a street in Oldham remain at large as a police investigation continues.
Residents on Belmont Street woke to find a huge crime scene had been put in place yesterday morning (Tuesday) after a suspected shooting. A second cordon was then erected on nearby Radcliffe Street at around midday.
Detectives have confirmed in an update today that a man was reportedly shot at on Belmont Street on Monday night by three men in balaclavas. Police believe the men were involved in an incident earlier that night on Radcliffe Street.
READ MORE: T ragic hospital worker found dead in Premier Inn after struggle with depression
In that incident, threats were made a gun. No-one was injured in the shooting, police said.
Forensic officers worked on both streets throughout the day yesterday, and their investigations have found that at least three shots were fired on Belmont Street. The motive is ‘currently unknown’.
Police said they believe the victim was not the intended target. No arrests have been made.
Anyone who has any information about the attack – which happened at around 11.15pm – is now being urged to come forward. Though yesterday, local residents said they were scared to speak out and ‘risk their lives’ by talking to police.
One Belmont Street resident told the Manchester Evening News : “It’s a bit scary. It’s lucky nobody got hurt. Anybody could’ve got hurt, we have kids around here too.”
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
She said she has CCTV cameras installed in her windows because she is so worried about crime in the area, and felt sure she would’ve caught the perpetrators on them last night. But she said she was hesitant to show the footage to anyone – saying doing so would be risking her life.
“Personally I think if people are walking around with guns, they aren’t bothered about anything,” she said. “It’s a scary situation to live in. Residents here are in danger. And yesterday was the day of the Queen’s funeral as well, they really must not care about anything.
“I hope people realise that somebody could’ve been killed, whether it was a child or an elderly person, one of us could’ve been killed last night.”
Another resident said: “It’s just too much, what is happening here now. I’ve got to go and pick up my little girl soon, and I worry for her. It’s got really bad around here.”
Detective Inspector Madaleine Atherton, of our Oldham CID, said: “We’re moving at pace to establish what has caused this brazen and shocking attack, and to ensure that anyone involved is found and interrogated about it. Our officers have been out speaking to people in the community and we share their sense of shock about what has happened, but we want to send a strong message that gun crime is deplorable and we will do all we can to drive out such violence in Oldham.
“We have seen the devastating consequences of guns being carried and used in our region all too recently, and while thankfully no one was injured, it does not diminish the seriousness in which we are treating this – therefore any information the public has must be shared with us.”
Any information can be passed to police online via the LiveChat facility on our website or by calling 101 quoting incident 3193 of 19/09/2022. Details can be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Read more of today’s top stories here
READ NEXT:
