A Panorama investigation into violent gang warfare in Salford which erupted last year, culminating in the murder of Paul Massey, is to screen tonight on BBC One.
The programme promises to look at the shooting of seven-year-old Christian Hickey and his mother on their doorstep in Winton, as well as linked machete and grenade attacks in Duchy.
The case prompted outrage after an innocent child was caught in the alleged crossfire of drug turf wars.
Outrage over Salford horror shootings: ‘City in fear’ demands police response
Terrified residents on Gilligham Road reported hearing three distinct gunshots at around 9.25pm on Monday 12 October, when two men approached the front door of a semi-detached house on the small cul-de-sac and fired through the doorway.
Both the boy and his mother required surgery after being shot in the legs and police said the primary school pupil would be mentally scarred for life after the attack.
The shooting came after a weekend of bloody violence in Little Hulton, which saw a 48-year-old man shot in the back through the front window of a house on Mossbrook Drive at midnight on Friday 9 October.
Read: Man, 48, shot through front window of Mossbrook Drive house
Over the next two days two further houses were shot at in Gorse Drive, Little Hulton, and on Bolton Road in Farnworth.
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said the shootings in Little Hulton were linked to serious and organised crime groups, believed to be two ‘feuding’ families.
Warring families behind Salford and Bolton shootings, say police
Reporter Catrin Nye will ask in the 30-minute documentary if the police have lost control of the streets. She also examines how the community can beat the cycle of guns and gangs.
Welcome to Salford – grenades, machetes and machine guns on the streets #bbcpanorama tonight 830pm @BBCOnehttps://t.co/tXRRtFY4fC
— BBCPanorama (@BBCPanorama) February 8, 2016
Just 24 hours ago a barber shop was shot at on Cromwell Road in Salford.
Latest: Police closed off street after shots fired at barber shop
Police have not linked the shooting to any other instances of violence on Salford streets.
But guns and serious violent crime appear to be frighteningly common as gangs battle it out in public.
Read: Salford police officer one of five charged in alleged cannabis corruption conspiracy
Read: Armed robber pulls gun on Bargain Booze raid in Little Hulton
Read: Man found with multiple stab wounds at Cyns Tavern in Little Hulton
Footage taken by SalfordOnline.com of Mr Massey’s funeral in August last year has been viewed thousands of times.
The 55-year-old was shot to death outside his home in Clifton on Sunday 26 July.
Despite a £50,000 Crimewatch appeal his killer has still not been apprehended and no arrests have yet been made.
The programme also promises to examine unsolved murders in Salford, including that of dad-of-five Lee Erdmann, who was shot in the back in front of 30 witnesses as he stood in the bar of the Wellington pub on Regent Road in Ordsall, on Saturday 10 September 2011.
Read: Lee’s ‘coward’ killer must to be brought to justice, plead Erdmann family
Gangs, Guns and the Police screens tonight on BBC One at 8.30pm.
Main image: BBC
