Frightened parents left in shock after innocent girl, 11, hit in Wolverhampton shooting

Gunshots were fired in Shelley Road, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton, in the middle of the afternoon on Bank Holiday Monday.

An 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were left with gunshot wounds to their legs with police reporting two cars being involved in a chase shortly afterwards.

Elston Hall Primary School, in nearby Stafford Road, was open as normal yesterday and letters were sent out to parents about the incident by headteacher Miss Elizabeth Foster. It said: “This has caused a huge amount of shock and upset to our school community and in particular the families involved.”

Miss Foster went on to say she had been in contact with police who said the school could open yesterday but the Shelley Road car park had to remain shut.

Miss Foster said staff were on hand to support children at the school.

Mr Sayed, who lives on Shelley Road, said: “This is usually a nice, quiet neighbourhood and so it was surprising to hear what went on. We heard multiple shots, and then suddenly everyone in the road rushed out to the scene and helped in any way we could. I’d like to hope it is an one-off incident as like I said, it is usually quiet here.

“Whilst it isn’t scary or causes fear, it is just shocking it happened here.”

Another resident who did not want to be named, said her great-grandson was at the park just a minute before. She added: “It is absolutely frightening as for me, my great-grandson was at the park playing right there, but he had to come home because he had ripped his trousers.

“So if it wasn’t for that happening to him, he would have been there at the scene and could have been in the incident.

“It is very scary to think about.

“It is frightening to think that kids are playing innocently in a park enjoying their bank holiday, but they can still become involved in an incident like this.

“Whilst yes the girl has survived she will be traumatised for the rest of her life after that, and it is frightening. My granddaughter heard the shots and ran out straight away, my grandson got some dressings from his home, and everyone helped the ambulance staff as much as they could.

“It made me think of that little girl in Liverpool that got shot, and that was innocent and this was almost the same thing and it could have been a lot worse but thankfully not.” Another concerned resident added: “Shootings have been happening regularly in Wolverhampton now. There needs to be CCTV installed on the car park and the back of the school needs to be locked off.

“It’s sad that an innocent girl got caught in the middle of it but it actually happens a lot in the city, it just doesn’t get reported a lot.

“It isn’t scary for me, but it is shocking, especially happening close to home.”

The incident is the fourth shooting in Wolverhampton in recent weeks, following shots being fired into the back of a car outside Wolverhampton College in Paget Road where a man in his 20s suffered gunshot wounds in a ‘targeted’ attack.

Shots were also fired between two cars in a residential area of Upper Villiers Street, Wolverhampton, a few weeks ago, and just last week, a shooting took place at a venue on Bitterne Drive, Whitmore Reans.

Anyone with information about the latest shooting has been advised to contact the police quoting investigation 20/393687/23.