One shooting every nine days on average in the Black Country last year

Data from West Midlands Police shows there were a total of 41 incidents recorded by the force where shots were fired in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell or Dudley in 2023.

The incidents included 46-year-old Deavon Harrison being shot dead in Dunstall Hill, Wolverhampton in December.

Three people have already been charged with his murder and remain on remand in prison until their next court appearance.

On May 1 last year, two schoolchildren were injured with gunshot wounds after a shooting near a Wolverhampton play area.

An 11-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy both suffered leg injuries following the incident at a play park in Shelley Road, Fordhouses.

They were victims of a feud between rival gangs.

In December three men were sentenced to 23 years each for attempted murder following the incident.

Prosecutors said the children were in the line of fire of a “murderous” feud between rival groups, which then triggered a high-speed car chase through the city “straight from the movie director’s script”.

Police recorded a total of 15 shootings in Wolverhampton last year.

A man in his 20s suffered gunshot wounds in Paget Road in March and bullet holes could be seen in the back window of a car, while in April a woman in her 20s was taken to hospital with a leg injury when gun shots were fired in Bitterne Drive in Whitmore Reans.

Other incidents where shots were fired in the city but there were no injuries caused happened in streets including Crosby Close, Emerson Road, Fifth Avenue and Moore Street South, among others.

In Walsall, police recorded four incidents where shots were fired including in Dawson Street, Blakenall, where a man was found with serious injuries in May.

Someone was also injured in a shooting in Northumberland Way, Birchills, in July, while there were shots fired but no injuries during incidents in Tasker Street in September and Glastonbury Crescent, Bloxwich, in December.

In Sandwell, there were 16 incidents where shots were fired.

The incidents included two men in their 40s being injured when shots were fired in a shop at Bertram Road, Smethwick in January last year; a man was seriously injured following a shooting in Bridge Street, Wednesbury in August; while a man in his 30s was injured after being shot in Astbury Avenue, Smethwick, on Christmas Eve.

Clifford Road, West Bromwich; Powis Avenue, Tipton and West End Avenue, Smethwick were among other streets where shots were fired in the area.

In the Dudley area, West Midlands Police recorded six incidents where shots were fired.

It included a man in his 30s being taken to hospital with gunshot injuries to his hand after shots were fired on Wharf Mews, Netherton, in October.

Other incidents last year took place in Tennyson Street, Pensnett; Gads Green Crescent and Norfolk Road, both in Dudley; and Hereford Road and Vale Road, both in Netherton.

Last year, West Midlands Police said levels of gun crime across the region had decreased as part of an overall reduction in violent crime, with a drop in the number of firearm discharges to 117 in 2022/23 compared to 148 in the previous 12 months.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "As part of the force’s new operating model introduced last April, a major crime team was set up with around 100 officers to specifically investigate recoveries of firearms and firearm discharges.

"This dedicated team is an integral part of tackling gun crime and removing dangerous weapons off the streets throughout our region.

"In 2023, we recovered more than 130 firearms from the West Midlands, up from 121 the previous year, while the number of firearms discharges also fell.

"Levels of gun crime across the West Midlands continues to decrease as part of an overall reduction in violent crime."