2018 Moss Side shooting

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Coordinates: 53°27′12″N 2°14′21″W / 53.4534°N 2.2391°W / 53.4534; -2.2391
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2018 Moss Side shooting
A shop on the section of Claremont Road where the shooting occurred[1]
LocationMoss Side, Manchester, England
Date12 August 2018 (2018-08-12)
WeaponsShotgun (believed)
Deaths0
Injured12

On 12 August 2018, a mass shooting happened in the Manchester neighbourhood of Moss Side. The weapon used was believed by Greater Manchester Police to be a shotgun. There were no fatalities.

Background

Moss Side was hosting the

Windrush generation.[2][3][4] Moss Side is described by a resident as a "volatile" inner-city area, with Sky News adding that it has "numerous gang territories and has long had problems connected with drugs and gun violence", though a local DJ interviewed about the incident said that "[i]t seemed like there was a general understanding over the last few years that everyone would just behave themselves" in Moss Side.[2]

Mass shootings are rare in the UK, with the most recent previous being a

spree shooting in Cumbria in 2010, and the one before a school shooting in Dunblane in 1996.[5] The DJ interviewed said he had been alerted to the incident and come down because he wanted to "see this thing, because 10 people is a major thing in Manchester."[2] The most previous major violent crime in Manchester had been the Manchester Arena bombing
in 2017, in which 22 people were killed.

Incident

Reports say shots were fired at 02:25 in the morning of Sunday, 12 August 2018, on Claremont Road, a street that runs for two miles through Moss Side.[2] Claremont Road is near Alexandra Park, the location of the festival, but the attack is seen as unrelated to the main festival, "just a street party".[2][4] Police arrived on the scene "within a minute" according to sources,[2][4] but a witness said that it was "quite a long time [before the police arrived] considering somebody had been shot", mentioning that there was "informal security" on the scene, and that "the ambulance was [probably] waiting for armed police [...] and then eventually the police did turn up".[4]

When the police arrived, they reported "several hundred" people in the area, with

Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry describing the street as "distressing".[2] One witness to the incident said that after he heard the first gunshot he thought it was "a balloon",[4] similar to the initial reports of the arena bombing the year before,[6] but then "heard two more and [...] went behind a wall" when he realised something dangerous was happening.[4]

The police believe that a shotgun loaded with pellets was used, and treated the incident as an attempted mass murder.[4]

Aftermath

Twelve people were injured, with ten hospitalised, and one of these in serious condition. Nine of those injuries were said to be gunshot pellet wounds, the other was a man's broken leg. Two of the injured were children, one aged 12 and the other a teenager.

Detective Superintendent Debbie Dooley confirmed that "most [of the injuries] do not appear to be life-threatening at this time".[2] Several people remained in hospital overnight.[7][8]

On 11 September two men, aged 24 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and on suspicion of possession of a firearm.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Two children among 10 injured in Manchester shooting attack". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Manchester shooting: Moss Side incident treated as 'attempted multiple murder'". Sky News. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  3. ^ Knight, Leah (24 April 2013). "Manchester Caribbean Carnival 2013". The Manchester Gazette. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Moss Side shooting: Two children among 10 injured". BBC. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Mass shootings and gun control". BBC. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  6. ^ "From a balloon pop to a suicide bomb: witnesses in Manchester recount a night of horror". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Moss Side shooting was attempted multiple murder, police say". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  8. ^ "Moss Side shooting: Police launch attempted murder investigation". MEN. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Moss Side shooting: Two men arrested over carnival attack". BBC News. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2021.

53°27′12″N 2°14′21″W / 53.4534°N 2.2391°W / 53.4534; -2.2391

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