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Video: Police plea to public over fatal shooting
WITNESSES to a drive-by shooting in Sheffield which left one man dead and three others injured are being urged by police to come forward.
Officers have been patrolling the streets in the Broomhall area and conducting door-to-door inquiries, to both gather evidence and reassure members of the public they are safe.
Chief Superintendent Paul Broadbent, of South Yorkshire Police, said it was a gang-related, isolated incident and those not involved in criminality are not in danger.
He said: "This is not a random attack and there is no risk or threat to the general public.
"We want to speak to various people that we believe may be crucial witnesses, and I'd like to appeal to those people who were in the area any time that evening, specifically at around 6pm, to please give us a call."
"I've never, in my own personal experience, seen any wall of silence and am confident that many people will come forward to tell us what they know."
None of the four men who were shot were from the Broomhall area. The man who died has been named as 22-year-old James Camara, from Pitsmoor.
He was pronounced dead at the scene in Brunswick Street, where the attack took place.
Mr Broadbent said police were looking into the possible involvement of a house in the street as well as working to establish how many people were in the car from which shots are believed to have been fired.
Last night police revealed that they are looking for a silver Vauxhall Vectra seen in the area around the time of the shooting.
Mr Broadbent said: "It's too early to tell if it was drugs-related. The investigation will establish the truth and present the facts to the court. The area is still being searched and we're still working through the motives – whether it was a reprisal or drugs or crime-related.
"Cordons are still in place. We have much work to do forensically, gathering evidence and taking statements from lots of people."
Mr Broadbent also warned other gang members in the city against retaliating. "If you do even consider taking the law into your own hands, which has been proven in the past with gang-related murders, we will find you."
Although many people have spoken of rising tensions between gangs in the area, the officer said there had been no incidents of serious violent crime reported in the area since April 1.
"I'd like to ensure that the Broomhall area feels safe enough and confident enough to tell us everything that's happening.
"We only know what we know. I'd like to appeal to people and say if they have any information about any crime or criminal activity to get in touch."
However, MP for Sheffield Central Richard Caborn echoed local residents and said tensions had been mounting in the area for some time. "It's a bit of a turf war that's been going on. Tensions have been rising and we've been working on that, getting the facts and finding out what the problems are.
Mr Caborn added: "As a major city, Sheffield is relatively free of crime. This sort of thing is the exception, not the rule."
Broomhall residents raised their concerns about growing violence in the area at a public meeting last month, at which they claimed tensions between Somalian and Jamaican groups had escalated out of control. At that meeting, police admitted officers had been called in to deal with incidents involving youngsters on the streets with bats and lengths of wood.
Trouble also erupted in the neighbourhood in June last year, when extra police officers were called in to patrol the streets after rival gangs of young Somali and Afro-Caribbean men clashed in a drug-related turf war.
Anyone with any information on the shooting should call South Yorkshire Police on 0114 2202020 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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