05-01-2007
|
 |
VIP Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: LovelyPk
Gender: 
Posts: 5,449
Rep Power: 27
|
|
Boy quizzed as shot sister dies
BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Boy quizzed as shot sister dies
A 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head in an incident at her house in Manchester has died in hospital.
Police were called to reports of the shooting at an address on Wembley Road, Gorton, at about 1930 BST on Monday.
She was rushed by ambulance to Manchester Royal Infirmary but died on Tuesday morning, police said.
Her 16-year-old brother, who was arrested on Monday evening, is still being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.
The girl had been transferred to Manchester Children's Hospital for treatment for the gunshot wound but died just before 0900 BST, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
  I was sleeping in the house when I heard someone shouting, 'Call the ambulance, call the ambulance' 
Haw Kumara, neighbour
Chief Superintendent John O'Hare described said: "At this moment in time it is treated as a tragic event which is receiving full and thorough investigation.
"Our hearts go out to the family. It really does bring home the tragic and really evil consequences of firearms within our communities."
The shooting happened at a house in a council estate in Gorton, where police were standing guard on Tuesday morning.
Neighbour Haw Kumara, 39, described how she saw the arrested boy "cradling" his sister outside their house while screaming for help.
Ms Kumara, a mother-of-four, said: "I was sleeping in the house when I heard someone shouting, 'Call the ambulance, call the ambulance'.
"I ran downstairs and went outside and said, 'What's going on?' I saw the brother holding the sister on the ground, cradling her."
Chief Supt O'Hare told a news conference in Manchester the weapon involved was "powerful":
"It's a weapon that you shouldn't have and it's a weapon that shouldn't have been with the individual last night," he said.
Tony Winter, the local street pastor, said the shooting sent a stark message.
"We don't realise when we have these weapons around that they don't have feelings and they don't have favourites," he said.
"Sometimes it takes a tragic event like this to re-focus our minds on the dangers of guns, or even knives, in our communities."
Forensic officers were at the scene on Tuesday examining the house and the street outside. Gorton lies about four miles (6.4km) outside the centre of Manchester to the east of the city.
Although a poorer and run-down district of the city, the area is not known for gun crime and is currently undergoing regeneration.
|
Linear Mode
