'It's getting worse around here': Smethwick locals left shocked, but not surprised, about a shooting which has left a man seriously injured
Residents living near a Smethwick street where a man was left seriously injured after being shot in the leg have spoken about their shock, but also about it being the latest in a set of violent incidents in the area.
West Midlands Police and West Midlands Ambulance Service had been called to Bearwood Road in Smethwick at around 1.30am and found a man with serious leg injuries.
He was treated at the scene, then conveyed to hospital by an ambulance crew, while police officers cordoned off the road from the junction at Sandon Road to the junction with Rutland Road and St Mary's Road.
The area around the scene remained cordoned off hours later, with inspectors from West Midlands Police checking the scene and a blue tarpaulin outside Reggae Kitchen Jamaican takeaway, while officers and cars kept a visible presence in the area.
The incident, which has since seen three men arrested on suspicion of violent disorder, is the latest to happen in the area, with two major incidents in the last month alone.
Three people were left with injuries following a disorder on Bearwood High Street on February 11, with three men arrested on suspicion of assault, while the murder of Zeshan Afzal at the Jamia Masjid Mosque on Oldbury Road on February 20 has seen seven people arrested in connection.
It was an incident which has left locals with feelings of shock at what had happened, but also a feeling of having seen it before.
