Reading Chronicle | News | "I heard a bang, bang, just like fireworks..."

Saturday, 17th May, 2008

Published: Thursday, 8th May, 2008 11:00

"I heard a bang, bang, just like fireworks..."

By Annabel Williams

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NEIGHBOURS in a quiet Caversham close are coming to terms this week with a mystery shooting on their doorstep.

Violence came suddenly to Mead Close on Monday night when a 26-year-old man was shot in the head in the doorway of a block of flats.

He was taken to Royal Berkshire Hospital where yesterday (Wednesday) he remained in a critical but stable condition.

Yesterday, the carpet on the stairwell at the block had been taken away for forensic tests, but the blood-stains on the walls remained.

One stunned 22-year-old who lives in the block told The Chronicle: “I’d just put the kids to bed and was slipping off to sleep myself when I heard a bang.

“I thought I was dreaming at first, then I thought it was a firework outside.

“Then I heard shouting, so I said to my other half 'what’s going on’, but he didn’t know.

“I had already phoned the police because I had heard an argument earlier, but this time a woman was shouting 'help me’.

“I went out and saw the man on the landing, so I dialled 999 and told them 'I think we’re going to need an ambulance’.

“The woman asked me to look after her little boy until his father came to pick him up.”

She added: “I’m a bit devastated. It’s a bit weird, and a bit scary.

“You see these things on the telly but you don’t expect it to happen on your doorstep.”

Her partner added: “Makes my stomach turn every time I think of it.”

Another Mead Close resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I heard bang, bang – like fireworks.

“I looked out, and the window in the flats above the doorway was splattered with blood, like someone had wiped it with a mop.”

She added: “I am hoping there will be some kind of victim support work done around here, or social services or some kind of counselling, because there are 32 children in my row of houses alone.”

Caversham beat bobby, PC John Finnerty, said: “This incident was a one-off and we at Thames Valley Police seek to reassure our community that Caversham is a safe place to live in and one of the nicest places to live in within Reading.

“If anybody saw anything, can they please contact us.”

Police are looking for a man wearing dark clothing and riding a dark motorcycle, who was seen in the area up to five hours before the shooting, which happened at 9.30pm.

Officers are also keen to speak to anyone who was in the Mead Close area between 4pm and 10pm on Monday.

Contact Thames Valley Police on 08458 505 505, quoting URN 1521050508.

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