Boy, 15, is shot dead by gang of youths on Birmingham street before ‘his attackers smash getaway car into a house as they flee’ sparking massive police manhunt
- Gunshots reverberated through he Handsworth area on Thursday afternoon
- Victim was rushed to hospital but couldn’t be saved and later died
- Suspects, who were also armed with knives, fled the scene in a hatchback
- But they were forced to flee on foot after crashing the car into a nearby home
A 15-year-old boy has been shot dead by a gang of youths in Birmingham sparking a massive police manhunt.
Gunshots reverberated through the Handsworth area of the city in broad daylight on Thursday afternoon before the suspects fled in a Ford hatchback.
Police said the teenager, who has not been named, was rushed to hospital but later died.
The suspects, who were also wielding knives, were forced to flee on foot after crashing their car into a house on a nearby road.
Police forensics examine the scene where the crashed getaway car was abandoned in Wheeler Street, Handsworth, Birmingham, on Thursday night
Police at the scene of the shooting on Linwood Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, tonight
An officer stands at the police cordon on Linwood Road in Handsworth tonight where the suspects crashed their getaway car
Officers raced to Linwood Road in the Handsworth area of the city shortly after 3.30pm.
Detective Chief Inspector Alastair Orencas, from West Midlands Police, said: ‘This level of violence in broad daylight on a residential street is inconceivable, let alone the fact that the target was a 15-year-old boy.
‘We are leaving no stone unturned in our search for those responsible and I ask anyone who knows who they are to contact us.
‘The family of the boy has had the worst shock imaginable today and we have specialist officers with them in their time of grief.’
The suspects fled in a white car, a Ford C-Max, which crashed into a house a short distance away in Wheeler Street.
No arrests have been made.
Paramedics treated the victim at the scene before taking him to hospital.
Forensics officers were tonight seen combing for clues as police officers conducted house-to-house enquiries.
West Midlands Police cordoned off Linwood Road in the Handsworth area following the shooting
Officers cordoned off a house on Wheeler Street in the Lozells area of Birmingham where a car crashed into a house
A police van on the scene in Birmingham tonight
The abandoned getaway car was also being examined.
A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: ‘We received a number of calls to Linwood Road in Handsworth, at 3.39pm this afternoon.
‘Three ambulances, a paramedic officer, a critical care paramedic and a emergency doctor attended and arrived on scene to find a male requiring emergency treatment.
‘Ambulance crews provided advanced trauma care on scene before conveying him to hospital on blue lights.’
Anyone who saw what happened can contact police on 101.