Man ‘blasted in leg in shotgun attack’
9:02am Wednesday 27th February 2013 in Local
A MAN was last night due to have surgery on his knee after he was blasted in the leg with a shotgun.
The 32-year-old victim arrived at the Royal Bolton Hospital by taxi on Monday afternoon with a gunshot wound to his right leg.
He claimed he was shot in Farnworth Park, off Market Street, Farnworth, between 2pm and 3pm on Monday. He was in hospital yesterday and was due to have surgery to remove lead pellets from his knee.
Police believe the injury was caused by a shotgun, but detectives say his injuries are not life-threatening.
It is understood the man told police that after being shot he managed to limp to his girlfriend’s house in Kearsley.
The victim, who is from Swinton, then said he got a taxi to the hospital, where staff alerted police to the incident.
Police said they had received no reports of a gunshot being heard in the park, however.
Det Insp Chris Walker said: “I want to reassure the public that this is an isolated incident.
“I believe this was a targeted assault and enquiries are ongoing to catch the perpetrators.”
A resident who lives in Bolton Road said: “I didn’t see or hear anything, but it is scary if something like that happened in the park.
“A lot of people regularly use the park to walk dogs so there would have been people around at that time.”
The shooting is not being linked to any other incidents.
Shootings in Bolton are rare, police said, with just one incident taking place in December, 2012, when shots were fired at a house in Parkfield Avenue, Farnworth.
Police said the two incidents are “completely unrelated”.
Anyone with information is asked to call Bolton CID on 0161 8565740 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
