A teenage boy had to have a ball bearing surgically removed from his SKULL after being shot in the head by a BB gun at point blank range in North Manchester last Friday.
Police are now hunting the gunman (e-fit pictured above) who had threatened the 14-year-old boy and his friend as they walked along a wooded cut-through between Belthorne Avenue and Moston Lane.
The boys were approached by the man and an accomplice at around 4:15pm on Friday March 4 and were told to hand over their mobile phones.
When the boys refused one of the men pulled out a gas-powered BB gun and shot the victim in the head.
The boys were able to make an escape as the gunman was reloading the weapon.
Detective Constable Mike Keogh, based at North Manchester Divisional HQ, said: “To fire a BB gun at someone’s head from point-blank range is an horrific thing to do, even by the standards of armed robbery.
“Had the pellet hit the face or an eye then this could easily have been a murder investigation.
“Thankfully his injuries were mainly superficial but that doesn’t lessen the seriousness of this crime.”
The man with the gun is described as about 20 years old with short ginger hair and a light ginger beard.
He was about 5ft 11in tall with a tall, stocky build and wearing dark blue jeans and a light grey hoodie.
His accomplice was of a similar age with dark hair, about 6ft tall and had a full black beard.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0800 555 111.
