Gun Incident Summary

Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were nine fatal shootings reported during March, five of which were apparent homicides, but the number of shooting incidents which resulted in serious injury was fewer than in the preceding month.
Three of the homicides occurred in London, in Mottingham (a man has been charged with murder), Tottenham (the victim was 18-years-old, and two men have been arrested) and Holloway (the victim's son was also shot and seriously injured). The other victims died as a result of apparent domestic incidents in Yorkshire, a woman was shot at a house in Thorne (South Yorkshire) (her partner is facing charges) and a man died at a house in Eccleshill (West Yorkshire) (a second man who also shot was in a critical condition, and a third man is being sought by police).
A 15-year-old boy was killed after being shot with an air rifle whilst target shooting with two other teenagers in his garden in Hayes (west London).
Three men were found dead with shotgun wounds in circumstances which the police are not describing as suspicious. Their bodies were discovered in Didcot (Oxfordshire), near Gainfield (Oxfordshire) and between Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf (South Wales)
In addition to the above incidents others which resulting in injuries occurred in:
- Bedfordshire (1) - a man was shot whilst he was getting out of his car in Luton
- Glasgow (1) - a man was shot a number of times in his car in Springburn after being chased by men in another car
- Greater Manchester (1) - a man was shot in the buttocks in Glodwick
- London (2) - a suspected gunshot victim was found in a street in Finsbury Park, and a man received shotgun wounds to both legs in a shooting in Brockley (a man has been arrested and bailed)
- Merseyside (2) - two male victims were shot in the leg in separate attacks in Huyton and Stockbridge Village
- Tyneside (1) - an 8-year-old boy was left critically ill after receiving shotgun wounds at a site in Gateshead
- West Midlands (3) - a man was shot in Bushbury (another man has been charged with attempted murder and firearms offences), another victim was shot with what was believed to be a pistol outside his home in Small Heath and a third man needed hospital treatment after he was shot in Stoke (Coventry)
- West Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the chest in Bradford (two men have been bailed in connection with the incident)
A man was hit on the head with a pistol during an attempted robbery at a house in Botley (Oxfordshire).
A 13-year-old boy was arrested after fellow schoolchildren were attacked with a stun gun in Leamington Spa (Warwickshire).
There were, however, more gun victims who were injured by shots from air weapons and imitation guns (see below).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - There were robberies and attempted robberies by men apparently armed with guns at:
- Banks, Building Societies and Post Offices - in Birkdale (Lancashire), Melsonby (North Yorkshire), Helsby (Cheshire), Guide (Lancashire), Droylsden (Greater Manchester) (a bank and a building society were robbed by the same gang; a police officer fired a shot at the getaway vehicle after a shotgun was pointed at him), and Greatworth (Northamptonshire) (two men have been arrested)
- Betting Shops - in Aldershot (Hampshire), Hoole (Cheshire), Watford (Hertfordshire) and Netherfield (Nottingham)
- Business Premises - in Harlow (Essex) (the robbers claimed to have a gun though no weapon was seen)
- Petrol Stations - in Manton (Nottinghamshire), Market Harborough (Leicestershire) and Newport (Shropshire) (a man has been arrested)
- Pubs - in Hucknall (Nottinghamshire) and North Shields (Tyneside)
- Shops - in Maidenhead (Berkshire), York (three men are in custody after an armed robbery at a jewellers), Wolverhampton (two attacks on the same shop occurred within a week), Bromley (south London), Poole (Dorset), Widnes (Cheshire) (two separate robberies), Maghull (Merseyside), Coleshill (Warwickshire), Radford (Nottingham) (two men were arrested), Southend-on-Sea (Essex) and Old Colwyn (North Wales) (a customer was shot in the neck with a BB gun; three men have been arrested and charged)
Some of the robberies in Cheshire were apparently carried out by a man who had escaped from court in December 2008: he has since been caught and charged with 14 new offences.
Security men were robbed of a large amount of cash by armed men in Uddingston (Lanarkshire).
There were attacks on houses by armed men in Botley (Oxfordshire) (a man was hit on the head with a pistol and his partner stabbed during he attempted robbery) and Robroyston (Glasgow). A couple were robbed at gunpoint whilst walking through a car park on Haverstock Hill (north London).
A taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint in Bolton (Greater Manchester).
A truck driver was stunned with a stun gun and dumped as his truck and load were stolen from outside an industrial estate in Saltley (Birmingham). Another lorry driver was hijacked at Fulwood (Preston) and forced to drive to Walsall and Gloucestershire; the robbers were also armed with a stun gun.

Other Incidents - Shots were fired in a number of other incidents:
- A family were trapped inside their home in Birkdale (Lancashire) when a gunman opened fire
- Shots were fired at a house in Huyton (Merseyside)
- A masked man fired several shots into a taxi office in Buttershaw (West Yorkshire)
- A shotgun was fired through the window of a pub in Anstey (Leicestershire)
- Four teenagers and a man were arrested after a shotgun was fired at a party in Oxfordshire where a teenage girl was sexually assaulted
A car thief threatened to shoot a police officer after a stolen car was stopped in Greater Manchester: the gunman escaped towards Ardwick railway station.
A man who threatened another man in a pub in Christchurch (Dorset) was later arrested. A man was charged with a number of offences, including four contraventions of the Firearms Act, following an apparent armed abduction in Grangemouth (Stirlingshire).
Police recovered a handgun after a man was seen brandishing a gun in the street in Burslem (Staffordshire). A man wielding a gun in Loughborough (Leicestershire) was arrested after being shot with a baton fired by the police.
A mother fought and disarmed a teenager brandishing two pistols after he threatened to shoot her son in Crawley (West Sussex).
A man was reported to the procurator fiscal after a firearms incident in Inverness.
A teenager was arrested when a school in Clifton (Bedfordshire) was evacuated after he had told a pupil that he would shoot him.
A police firearms team was despatched to Wookey (Somerset) after a resident heard a series of shouts and screaming followed by what she believed to be a gunshot: no evidence of a shooting was found.
A man charged with murder after a stabbing in Greenwich (south east London) has also been charged with firearms offences.
A man who had shotgun cartridges in his pocket by mistake has described how security at Bristol Airport failed to detect them.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts - Guns being found during a number of police operations, in some of which drugs were also recovered:
- Stun guns were found during raids in Hounslow (west London), Hartlepool, Chesham (Buckinghamshire) and Pinehurst (Swindon)
- Guns were found during raids in Greater Manchester (a man and a woman were arrested) and Blaina (South Wales) (a man was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm)
- Police found a loaded gun stuffed into a sock after they chased two men in Battersea (south London) (a man has been charged).
- A gun was recovered by police from under a hut in Merridale (Wolverhampton)
- Guns were discovered in cars in Littleborough (Greater Manchester) (a shotgun was found and man has been charged with possession of a prohibited firearm) and in Whitworth (Lancashire) (a prohibited Brocock airgun was found, one man has been charged and another recalled to prison). Police seized an air pistol and a large amount of cash when two cars were stopped in Torquay (Devon) (two men have been arrested).
Ammunition was recovered by police from a house in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire). A bag of 9mm bullets was discovered by a member of the public in the centre of Manchester.
Three shotguns, stolen during a burglary in Boughton Lees (Kent), were recovered from the River Stour in Chartham.
A paintball gun, an imitation of a Second World War assault rifle, was stolen from a car in Hereford.

Airguns and Imitation Guns - A 15-year-old was killed by a shot from an air rifle whilst target shooting in his back garden in Hayes (west London).
A number of innocent victims were hit by pellets fired from airguns and BB guns, and as we pointed out in our recently-prepared list of airgun incidents these victims are often young or female:
- A woman from Cobham (Surrey), who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has been terrorised by youths has been shot at with an air rifle.
- Air rifle snipers hit two women in Longridge (Lancashire) (two teenagers were arrested)
- A PCSO was shot in the back with an air rifle in Grantham (Lincolnshire) (a man has been charged with common assault and firing an air weapon beyond a premises)
- A 13-year-old girl required surgery to remove an airgun pellet after being shot in Anfield (Liverpool)
- A man was hit by an airgun pellet whilst walking in the street in Watford (Hertfordshire)
- A woman was shot with an airgun near to a primary school in Sheerness (Kent) and required hospital treatment
- An 8-year-old boy needed stitches after being shot in the head with an airgun whilst riding his mini-motorbike in a field in Crewe (Cheshire)
- A teenager injured a 12-year-old pupil when he fired a ball-bearing gun in the grounds of a school in York
- A teenager was shot with a BB gun in a fast food restaurant in Stafford
- An elderly man was shot in the face with a BB gun in Easingwold (North Yorkshire)
- A supermarket customer was hit in the neck with a BB gun pellet during an attempted robbery in Old Colwyn (North Wales) (see above)
- A man injured in the stomach in Fazakerley (Merseyside) was later reported to have been shot with a pellet gun
A man was arrested after shots were fired from an air rifle in Barry (South Wales).
A woman armed with two BB guns caused an alert at a secure mental health unit in Rainhill (Merseyside): she has been detained under the Mental Health Act. A man subsequently found to have been armed with a BB gun was hit with a rubber bullet by police in Falmouth (Cornwall) and then charged with possessing an imitation firearm.
A teenager appeared in court following an incident which is alleged to have involved a gas-powered BB gun in Middleport (Staffordshire). A man was arrested and an air weapon recovered after someone allegedly threatened youths in Alcester (Warwickshire). Another man has denied possession of a firearm after a dispute over a taxi fare in Middlesbrough in which an air pistol was apparently involved.
A man has been charged with having a firearm in his possession with intent to cause another man to believe that unlawful violence would be used against him and with stealing a gat gun from a farm in Stanley (Perthshire).
Five people were held under the Terrorism Act after imitation guns, including an imitation Kalashnikov rifle, were found by police at an address in Plymouth: the find was linked to the forthcoming G20 summit.
Air weapons caused damage to property:
- Airgun pellets were fired at a house in Pevensey Bay (East Sussex)
- Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to historic windows at a church in Darwen (Lancashire)
- Extensive damage has been done to a primary school's windows in an air rifle attack in Trannack (Cornwall)
- There have been a series of airgun shootings in Trawden (Lancashire) where a pub and a home have recently been damaged
- Homes in two areas of Halifax (West Yorkshire) were shot at with what is thought to have been an air rifle
- Damage was caused to the door of a home in Skipton (North Yorkshire)
- The window of a TV studio in Cardiff was shot at with an airgun.
and to vehicles:
- Passengers in Marchwood (Hampshire) had to duck when an airgun was fired at a bus.
- Another bus was targeted by an air rifle sniper in South Brent (Devon) and damage was caused to one of the windows.
A teenager was arrested after an incident with a replica gun on a bus travelling between Canterbury and Whitstable (Kent).
Two girls have been expelled from a school in Alcester (Warwickshire) after BB guns were found there. A primary school pupil was suspended after taking a ball bearing gun to school in South Croydon (south London) and waving it at girls in the playground.
An estate in Wokingham (Berkshire) has been plagued with anti-social behaviour, including shooting with BB guns.

Incidents Involving Animals - There were more airgun attacks on cats, this month reported from Aberdeenshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Derbyshire, Hertfordshire and Staffordshire (two attacks in different towns) and Wiltshire. A cat in Lincolnshire was shot in the face with a shotgun.
A dog was shot with an airgun in front of a 5-year-old boy and his mother in Corsham (Wiltshire).
There were also further attacks on swans in Godstone Green (Surrey) and Wednesfield (West Midlands) on a canal where attacks have taken place previously and airguns may have been used to kill two swans found dead in Silksworth (Sunderland).
A buzzard was shot in Aglionby (Cumbria), where in the last three months five other carcasses have been found on a golf course.

Convictions - A man who shot an intruder with a shotgun at his home in Chilham (Kent) was acquitted of murder.
Three men have been sentenced for their involvement in an incident in which a man was shot in the leg in a garden in Allenton (Derbyshire): the sentences were six years, nine years and 95 days and 20 years.
A man has admitted firing a shotgun in Worksop (Nottinghamshire) but denied attempted murder. Two men have admitted firing a shotgun at a pub in Broomhouse (Edinburgh). A man who fired a shotgun at a group of youths in Bridgend (South Wales), injuring a 16-year-old, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent and common assault and was jailed for 20 months.
Three men who were involved in attacks on others in the southside of Glasgow, during which they pointed a gun or similar weapon, have been jailed for a total of 11-and-a-half years.
A man from Hevingham (Norfolk) who pointed a loaded shotgun at his ex-wife while she lay in bed has been jailed for three years.
A man involved in an armed robbery at a hotel in Brislington (Bristol) has been found guilty of robbery and having a handgun with intent to rob. An offender who was involved in a number of gunpoint robberies in the south of England after he escaped from a prison van in Barking (east London) has been jailed for 16 years: two other men involved in the escape, in which they brandished pistols, and a robbery were jailed for four years and ten years. Another man, who was part of a gang that raided shops in Newmarket and Barrow (Suffolk), has been jailed for eight years.
An Army sergeant has pleaded guilty to brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle at a barracks in Minley (Hampshire).
A man who was stopped in Walthamstow (north east London) in possession of a gun and then fled to Spain was extradited and has admitted a string of offences including possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and an attempted robbery 10 years ago: he was jailed for a total of 15 years. Another man from Walthamstow who was convicted for counterfeiting offences had been jailed for eight years for possession of a gun and ammunition.
A number of people have been convicted after firearms were found:
- A man from Wolverhampton and his teenage girlfriend have been jailed for nine years and four-and-a-half years after admitting possession of a shotgun and cocaine.
- A man from New Eltham (south east London) has been jailed for seven years after a police raid revealed a stash of weapons at his home.
- Another man has been jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of a string of firearms and drug offences including supplying weapons: police found drugs, a pistol and almost 200 bullets at his girlfriend's flat in Salford.
- A man who kept an Uzi sub-machine gun under his bed at his home in Knotty Ash (Merseyside) has been jailed for 12 years for possession of the gun and ammunition and for drug offences.
- A teenager from Cardiff who was minding a gun for a gang admitted possession of the firearm and ammunition and was sentenced to five years in a young offenders' institution.
- A gun enthusiast who hoarded military memorabilia pleaded guilty to illegal possession of ammunition, missiles and firearms without a certificate as well as possession of articles with a blade at his home in Chorley (Lancashire) and was given 24-week suspended prison sentence.
There were convictions of a number of men over possession of stun guns:
- A man from Rowley Regis (West Midlands) who admitted arming himself with a stun gun during a dispute with neighbours was given a 12 month suspended jail sentence and placed under supervision for two years.
- A man who tried to bring a stun gun into the country from Thailand and was caught at Edinburgh Airport pleaded guilty to charges under the firearms act.
- Another who attempted to bring stun guns and drugs into the country from Thailand through Heathrow Airport has been jailed for three and a half years.
- Another man has admitted having a prohibited weapon after a stun gun and drugs were found at his house in Annan (Dumfriesshire).

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - A teenager has pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm after a man was robbed outside a restaurant in Harpenden (Hertfordshire). Another teenager received a four year sentence after an attempted robbery in Baillieston (Glasgow) during which he pointed a ball bearing pistol at the shopkeeper. A man who made and used a fake firearm as well as a knife during five robberies in Headington (Oxford) has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.
A man who pointed an air rifle at people in the vicinity of his house in Grimsby (Lincolnshire) after an egg was thrown at him has been given a 12 month community order and ordered to complete 80 hours unpaid work. A man who threatened a neighbour in Staining (Lancashire) with an air pistol during a domestic dispute has received a 21 month jail sentence. Another man who repeatedly fired an air pistol to "frighten" a group of men who attacked him in Edinburgh has pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace and possessing a firearm in a public place.
A newspaper reported that a man who fired an airgun at his neighbours in Lanchester (County Durham) during a catalogue of violence has been allowed to move back into his house after a six month ban: he had been given a suspended six month jail sentence.
A man who aimed a ball bearing gun at police in Birkenhead (Merseyside) in the hope they would shoot him has been jailed for 20 months.
A man admitted firing a paintball gun at a colleague at a paintball centre in Ratho (Edinburgh), causing his victim long term damage to his eye.
A man has admitted uttering threats of violence, holding a gun to a woman's head and having a BB gun in his possession after a dispute at a house in Motherwell (Lanarkshire)
A man has been fined £600 for terrifying a group of boys by following them with an air rifle in Ardrossan (Ayrshire).
A man has admitted having an unloaded air pistol without reasonable excuse in Hawick (Scottish Borders). Another man who walked through an industrial estate in Ayr with an air rifle has had his sentence deferred for six months.