Boy, 15, seriously injured after motorbike attacker opens fire
Written by News on 22/07/2019
A teenager has suffered potentially life-changing injuries after he was shot in Coventry.
The 15-year-old boy was in the city centre at around 11.10pm on Saturday when a motorbike carrying a number of people drove past and one of them opened fire, police said.
The victim was taken to hospital for surgery and his injuries are potentially life-changing but not life-threatening.
Detectives are treating the shooting as an attempted murder.
A second person standing nearby, a man aged around 20, suffered superficial injuries and has been released from hospital.
Detective Inspector Harjit Ubhi said: “This was an appalling and reckless attack in a part of the city centre which was busy with people enjoying nights out.
“We are already going through CCTV and identifying witnesses, and are determined to bring the people responsible to justice as swiftly as possible.”
He said police would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the attack, particularly those with dashcam footage, as there were a number of taxis in the area at the time.
It is not clear whether there is any link to two other incidents in the area at around the same time.
A knife was found in a bag in the Cosy Club on Cathedral Lanes and three people were arrested. An 18-year-old man was robbed of jewellery close to a nearby pub.
Reporting from Coventry, Sky News correspondent Becky Johnson said: “A group of people, quite young lads aged between 11 and 13, one of the boys told me he knows or knows of this 15-year-old boy and they believe here in Coventry it’s all about postcodes.
“They believe this boy was the target of the attack. They said they expect youngsters to be carrying weapons, that it’s really quite normal here.
“We know in November a 16-year-old was stabbed to death here in Coventry and his sister at the time said it was all about postcodes. So clearly this is something West Midlands Police very quickly need to get a grip of here in Coventry.”
:: Anyone with information can contact police via live chat at west-midlands.police.uk, via 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
(c) Sky News 2019: Boy, 15, seriously injured after motorbike attacker opens fire
