A heroic man chased away four hooded men who wielded a shotgun after they held his friends at gunpoint outside Hulme Park.
The incident took place at around 10.15pm on Saturday April 11, when Greater Manchester Police were called to St. Nicholas Road in Hulme.
The 20-year-old electrical and electronic engineering student, who has asked to remain anonymous, chased the men through Hulme Park towards Hulme Street – after which he decided to call the police.
He told MM: “I heard the car horn sounding rapidly outside of the house – one of them was standing on the driver’s side shouting to my friend ‘get out of the car’.
“He had something in his hand, so I shouted at him [the man carrying the shotgun] and started running towards them. They ran and jumped over a fence.
“I followed them because they were trying to attack my friend. I just had to follow them. I’m not sure what I would have done if I caught them.
“I didn’t see what was in his hand, it just looked like a black object pointed towards the car. My friends told me it was a shotgun.”
The assailants, who all wore black puffer jackets, were chased through Hulme Park and split up on Hulme Street.
‘I’M GOING TO DIE’: The terrifying incident took place just outside of Hulme Park late on Saturday night
The hero was accompanied by his 25-year-old friend, who also wanted to remain anonymous. He claims that his friends were lucky that they arrived in time.
He told MM: “The first guy was definitely holding a sawn-off shotgun. There were four of them and they’d surrounded the car – one per door.
“He turned his gun around like he was about to smash the window open. But my mate shouted at him and ran at them. I thought, now he’s gone I have to run after him, so I did.
“No-one got hurt though, which is a good thing.”
MM managed to speak with the victims in the Volkswagen Golf Mk6, both of whom claimed that they thought they were ‘going to die’.
The first, a 37-year-old pharmacist, said: “First he tried to open the door. I didn’t see his face, but I saw his arm tried to open it. Lucky I had locked the door when I got in the car.
“But then he started screaming and swearing at me, telling me to get out of the car. He looked under the influence, as his eyes were bloodshot. He looked scared.
“I was shaking, it was crazy. I thought, ‘thats it, he’s going to pull the trigger, I’m going to die’. So I thought, ‘if I die, I’m taking you with me’, so I beeped my horn as much as I could.
“I lived in Iraq, and I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
The second friend, a 39-year-old mother, said: “I’m really ashamed to say this, but I was thinking that at least I was behind my friend. It’s not good to think about yourself in that situation, but I did. I thought we were going to die.”
Detectives on the scene told MM that it was ‘odd’ that potential gang members would target strangers or hijack a car with a firearm, as it ‘would not take that much effort’ to steal one.
A statement from GMP said: “At 10.30pm on Saturday April 11, police were called following reports two people were seen with an imitation firearm on St Nicholas Road, Hulme.
“No one was injured and inquiries are ongoing.”
Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
