Dancefloor terror

Terrified clubbers poured into a Shrewsbury taxi office desperate to get home safely after a shooting at a town centre venue today.

See also: Panic after nightclub shooting

Owner: I’m baffled by incident

Staff at Vincent’s Taxis in Castle Gates said people packed the office shortly after 3am after a dancefloor shooting at the Buttermarket.

Many had fled after a gunman opened fire, hitting a man in the arm.

In their panic many clubbers headed for the taxi office in the hope of securing a lift away from the area which was quickly cordoned off by police.

Katherine Sherry, a controller at the taxi firm, said armed police arrived shortly after, told revellers at the office to stay indoors and told staff to lock the premises while initial investigations took place.

She said it was extremely frightening and lots of the people just wanted to get home.

Miss Sherry said: “We heard that it happened at about 3am. There was a lot of people who had come over from Wolverham- pton, Birmingham and Coventry on buses and in cars. We heard that one person had been shot in the arm, but that is just what people were saying. I don’t know if it is right.

“It was nothing to do with Shrewsbury people. I’m not sure if it was the people from Birmingham, but that’s just what we heard.”

She said police closed most of Castle Foregate and parts of Smithfield Road as they searched for the gunman.

“Loads of police arrived outside the office carrying guns and told the people left still waiting for taxis to get inside and for us to lock the doors,” she said. “There were only about 12 people left by then, but it was quite scary. We could see all of the police outside. There were about about eight cars and vans.

“There were lots of coaches on the railway station car park to take the people back to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

“They closed some of the roads though, and under the railway bridge. Our cars couldn’t get to the office so drivers had to park up around the town and just wait.”

People in Shrewsbury today spoke of their shock after hearing about the shooting.

Dave Jones, owner of Station News in Castle Foregate, said he was horrified.

He said: “I’m really shocked by what has happened. I used to go out there when I was younger and never really saw any trouble.

“It is yet another shocking incident for Shrewsbury, it makes it three in just over a year. You just don’t expect it in a town like this.”

The shooting comes just weeks after Shrewsbury police officer Constable Ricky Gray was gunned down in nearby Castlefields.

Father-of-two Mr Gray, who was an authorised firearms officer, was shot with a .222 rifle by Peter Medlicott, who then apparently turned the gun on himself, on May 6.

The community was also stunned when Annie Eels, 55, of Llansantffraid, and 24-year-old Samantha Tapper, of Wolverhampton, were found murdered at a massage parlour in Frankwell on July 1 last year.

Garry Harding, of Welshpool, was jailed for life in April after confessing to the murder during the first day of his trial.

The landlord of the Britannia Inn in Castle Foregate, who asked not to be named, said he was surprised by this morning’s shooting but added there had been no trouble in his pub last night.

He said: “It’s worrying because you don’t even know what type of gun it was. I heard there were two shots fired but we closed at 1am before it was supposed to have happened.” He said he believed there were CCTV cameras outside The Buttermarket but was unaware if they had cameras inside the club.

Alex Nicholls, who works at The Albion, in Castle Foregate, said he had heard clubs in Wolverhampton had refused to stage the event held at The Buttermarket last night.

“We heard about the shooting on the radio. People are just in shock.” He added: “Anyone carrying a gun around should be given a life sentence.”