WATCH: Gun attack caught on camera as car rammed off road
Dramatic footage has been released showing the moment a car was rammed off the road before a hooded gunman opened fire on one of the fleeing occupants.
A man can also be seen running along the street wielding a huge machete in the video released by West Midlands Police.
The shooting included in the video is one of at least four gun attacks on the region's streets this week, with the West Midlands' police and crime commissioner warning that criminal gangs are “coming out of lockdown”.
The incident caught on camera unfolded in the Balsall Heath area of Birmingham just after 8pm on Tuesday.
WATCH the CCTV footage here:
A signpost was knocked over when a white Volkswagen Transport van rammed a Citroen C3 car off Mary Street in full view of CCTV cameras.
Three men from the Citroen ran in the direction of Edward Road, chased by a man brandishing what officers believe to be a handgun, and a fourth man ran towards Balsall Heath Road chased by the man with a machete.
Detectives have appealed for help identifying the occupants of both vehicles and locating the van involved, which was displaying false plates.
Nobody is believed to have been injured in the incident.
Detective Inspector Richard Marsh, from West Midlands Police CID said: "We have released CCTV as we are urgently appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident, or saw anything suspicious around the time to come forward.
"We believe this was a targeted attack, and will not tolerate violence of this nature on our streets.
“The Citroen has been recovered for forensic examination and we are particularly keen to trace the movements and occupants of the VW Transporter that we believe was involved."
Meanwhile a man was shot in the leg in Pendeford in Wolverhampton on Thursday just hours before two teenagers were stabbed in the Heath Town area of the city.
On Wednesday a man was taken to hospital after being shot in the leg while walking down the street in Handsworth.
The injured man, who suffered a fractured leg, was described as being in a stable condition.
And in another incident in the Ladywood area of Birmingham later on Wednesday an occupant of a car opened fire on another vehicle.
During the ensuing chaos, a cyclist – not involved in the shooting – was hit by a car and knocked off his bike, at about 5pm.
During an update to the West Midlands strategic policing and crime board, Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said more than 550 rounds of ammunition and six guns had been seized in various raids across the region in recent weeks.
Ms Rolfe said: “We have taken this opportunity to really get ahead of all kind of organised crime and those who might be causing significant anxiety to our communities, through on-street drug-dealing and county lines.
“We’ve executed 55 warrants during the period of lockdown, seized more than £500,000 in cash, 2.5kg of class A drugs and 1,800 cannabis plants, six firearms and 550 rounds of ammunition.”
She said the police are “focused on those individuals who want to cause harm in our community”.
