Walsall shooting: Police given extra powers after drive-by attack

Officers were given Section 60 powers in Caldmore which allow them to stop and search people believed to be involved in violence without the need to have reasonable grounds.

It comes after two violent incidents involving weapons this week - including one where a man was blasted with a shotgun on Wednesbury Road.

Police are hunting the gunman involved in that incident, who was in a grey Volkswagen Tiguan when the shots were fired at the junction with Old Pleck Road near the Brown Lion pub at around 3pm on Thursday.

Shortly after the shots were fired officers were given extra powers to search people from 10pm until 4am on Friday.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "The Section 60 was in place after two incidents of violence, including weapons, over the last few days in that area.

"Our priority is to protect YOU the public. If you have any information on gun and knife crime, call us on 101 to report. In an emergency dial 999."

The powers applied to an area including Bescot, Palfrey and Caldmore bordered by Broadway, Wednesbury Road and Birmingham Road.

The action marks the latest move to tackle violent crime in the area which has long been troubled by armed criminals.

Last February a 16-year-old boy was stabbed in the stomach in Caldmore Road and then in July two men were stabbed multiple times in a fight involving multiple people in Caldmore Green.

And there was violence the year before where masked men used a hammer to smash in the windows of a pizza shot before a gun was reportedly fired.

That incident, which happened in May 2020, was at least the third incident to happen in Caldmore within six months - with others involving brawls and armed gangs.

And in one incident in January 2020, shops "were forced to close" amid escalating levels of violence in the area. A car and takeaway restaurant were damaged but no injuries were reported to police.