Walsall shooting: Man critically injured in barber shop shotgun attack
A man is fighting for his life after being blasted with a shotgun inside a barber shop.
The victim, who is in his 20s, was shot in the stomach in the shop on the busy A454 Wolverhampton Road in Walsall and is in a critical condition in hospital.
He was in the Katz Kutz barbers in the Birchills area just after 5pm on Sunday when men burst in and assaulted him.
Interactive map of the area:
Police believe one of the men left before returning to the shop on the corner of Raleigh Street with a shotgun.
The men ran off on foot after the young man was shot.
'A good kid'
The barbers, not far from Junction 10 of the M6 heading into Walsall, remained cordoned off on Sunday evening as the police investigation got under way.
Neighbours described hearing the booming shotgun blast.
A friend at the scene said the victim was “in theatre” last night and described him as a “good kid”.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “I just heard a big bang , it sounded like someone’s boiler had exploded or something. I thought it was someone’s house. It was very, very loud.
“The kid who has been shot is a really good kid. He has never been in this kind of trouble. It is just terrible.
“He was having his hair cut. There is always lot of guys hanging around there.”
Zain Rehman, who works in a takeaway next door, said: “I heard the gunshot. Everything had already happened by the time I got outside.
“I just heard a bang. The barber was outside on the phone to the ambulance, just panicking.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Another neighbour, who did not want to give his name, said: “It was like a bomb going off. It’s just stupid, it’s getting worse.
“It’s somebody’s baby at the end of the day.”
Detectives have urged anyone who saw what happened or has any information to come forward.
