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03/10/03 - Health club gun
murder
By Justin Davenport and Rob McNeil, Evening Standard
A man was shot dead and another injured in a machinegun
attack outside a health club today.
The two were ambushed as they emerged from the club
in a lane in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. Witnesses reported
hearing a burst of what was described as "machine-gun
fire". One said he heard about 18 shots.
Neighbours hurried to the scene and found one blood-covered
man lying on the ground with wounds to his chest and
legs.
Police said officers were at the scene in Brewery Road
but did not give further details. A spokesman only said
one man had died and another had been injured. Police
cordoned off the area.
The shooting came less than 24 hours after Home Secretary
David Blunkett promised tough new firearms laws to curb
the spread of gun culture across Britain.
Speaking following the murder of Nottinghamshire jeweller
Marian Bates this week, he said: "Communities must
be restored to their people, protected from the organised
gangs and gun-runners."
Witnesses in Hoddesdon said they heard the shooting
at about 9.30am. One said the two men were shot at close
range as they walked out of the gym, called Physical
Limits.
One report said the gunman stepped out of a car that
pulled up alongside the men. A witness, who did not
want to give his name, said: "I was working when
I heard a burst of gunfire which sounded like a pneumatic
road drill. I raced outside to see what happened. I
saw a green car riddled with bullet holes with all the
windows smashed.
"There was a white man with a shaved head slumped
in the back and another man who was about 35 running
about with blood all over him.
"The car was parked outside a health club or gym
where lots of young lads go."
Another witness said: "I was in a rear bedroom
when I heard about 18 shots. I rushed to the front of
the house and saw a car with its windows shot out.
"There was a guy lying on the ground. I went out
to help and tried to cover him. He had been shot in
the chest and the leg."
Nearby worker Michael Priddis said: "They must
have used automatic weapons, maybe a machinegun. All
the cars in front of the gym are peppered with bullets.
Two men shot down in this sort of town seems unreal."
Forooz Ghassemi, 45, a product manager working next
to the health club, said: "We just heard the bangs.
It was four shots. They were very fast and very loud,
like a machinegun."
Mrs Bates, 64, was shot at point-blank range by two
robbers this week. She and her daughter Xanthe, 34,
struggled with the raiders.
Police hunting the killers today said they had traced
the bystander who tried to pull the fleeing robbers from
their scooter. |
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