The Birmingham Post POLICE FACE MORE GUNS ON STREETS 31/7/00 By Alun Thorne After a shooting in a crowded shopping area, a senior Birmingham police officer yesterday spoke of his fear that some youths are now carrying guns every time they go out. Police said it was a miracle no one was injured when a youth opened fire on the walkway leading to the Pallasades in the city centre. The shooting took place just before 6pm on Saturday outside the HSBC bank in Stephenson Place and detectives hope footage from the bank's own CCTV cameras may shed light on the violent dispute. Police also recovered a handgun thought to have been loaded with live ammunition. Insp Mick Pearson, based at Steelhouse Lane police station, said the shooting indicated what officers were up against in combating the city's escalating gun culture. He said: "In terms of the availability of firearms and live ammunition in Birmingham I think this incident is a very worrying development. "Our investigations are still continuing into the background to this shooting but it could be that certain youths in this city are now routinely carrying firearms. "If this was a live round that was fired then the fact that a gun was discharged in a busy city centre street is very worrying for everybody. "Nobody has come forward with any sort of injury so we can assume that shot didn't hit anybody but the worst-case scenario in a situation like that is quite horrendous." The shooting happened at 5.45pm at the bottom of the crowded ramp leading to the shopping centre and New Street station. Fortunately, several police officers were in the city centre as part of a high-profile initiative against street robbers and were on the scene within seconds of hearing the shot. When they arrived they saw three men trading blows, one of whom subsequently ran off towards Pinfold Street. He was arrested after a short chase and a handgun was recovered nearby. The two other men involved in the fight were also detained. Two of those arrested were teenagers while the third was in his early 20s. All three come from the Handsworth area. Insp Pearson said the job of collecting forensic evidence had been made more difficult because of the time of day and the location of the shooting. "At this stage we don't know where the bullet went but there were no broken windows or anything like that. "Ideally, we would have sealed the area off immediately to gather evidence but that wasn't possible because of the location and all the people in the area." Forensic tests were being carried out on the handgun and ammunition to see if they could be linked to any of the other shootings that have plagued the city in recent months. They were also looking into the possibility the shooting could have been gang-related, although Insp Pearson said police had no specific intelligence to indicate this was the case. The shooting comes just weeks after more than a thousand people marched through the streets of Handsworth to demonstrate against shootings involving young black men. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
