Three men have been arrested after a gang rampaged through Manchester, reminiscent of a scene from the movie ‘8 Mile’, shooting terrified pedestrians with a paintball gun.
Armed police were dispatched amid numerous reports of victims who had been shot with orange paintball pellets by a group of men over the weekend.
The paintball provocateurs, who were driving a dark Vauxhall and grey Range Rover, went on an eight hour rampage across the city.
Eight attacks were reported to police, with the first incident occurring around 6.30pm on Saturday evening.
Police were called to Powell Street, Bury, when the shooters were seen firing paintballs at a house.
The first victim was walking with friends when the two cars drove past and opened fire, hitting the victim on the body with orange paint.
Later on in the evening on Bury New Road between 11.15pm and 11.45pm, in two separate incidents both cars opened fire on two more victims, before speeding off laughing on both occasions.
The gang struck again in Fallowfield on Yew Tree Road around 12.20am on Sunday morning, shooting a man four times, bruising his back and chest.
This was shortly followed by an assault in the same area on Mosley Road around 1.45am, where the attackers shot at their victim while shouting ‘slag’, before speeding off.
Victim number seven was attacked on Kingsway at the junction with Green End at 2am, when the two cars pulled over to the curb and shot the victim in the face.
The man was taken to hospital and treated for severe swelling and boozing to his left eye.
The final attack took place in Heaton Moor, Stockport just before 3am, where a man was shot several times and told ‘I hope that hurt’ by a man in the Range Rover as the two cars drove off towards Shaw Road.
Speaking about the paintballing spree Detective Sergeant Iqbal Ahmed said: “This may have been treated like a bit of fun for the men who perpetrated this string of attacks, but we are treating these incidents extremely seriously.
“The fact that these men then verbally abused some of their victims further demonstrates their callous nature.
“This was a high powered weapon used by the men to inflict pain on innocent passers-by and one of the victims was frankly very lucky not to lose an eye after being shot in the face.
“This may have been treated like a bit of fun for the men who perpetrated this string of attacks, but we are treating these incidents extremely seriously.”
A 20-year-old man has been arrested and bailed until May 19 and a further two men, aged 22 and 20, have also been arrested on suspicion of assault and remain in custody for questioning.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures via YouTube, with thanks.
