"There's a lot like that happening around here, I've got more important things to worry about." This is a sense of the reaction residents gave after a suspected shooting on a street where cars are constantly flying past.
Police closed off Horsedge Street in Oldham on Thursday (July 6) and carried out investigations after a 'suspected firearms discharge' on Wednesday evening (July 5). No arrests have been made and police have launched an investigation.
One man, who wasn't in at the time of the incident, told the Manchester Evening News when asked if neighbours were worried about what had happened that he "didn't think so". "I only heard about it when somebody told me in the shop. No one seems to have been really affected by it, it's just another thing to have happened."
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The incident happened near the junction with Henshaw Street, police say. No was was injured.
Another resident, who has lived on the street for nearly 50 years, told the MEN: "I was in watching TV and heard what I thought was two cars crashing, it was a very loud bang. But when I looked out I couldn't see that anything had happened.
"I just thought it was a firework, the bang did really echo down the street, there's always fireworks going off around here. It was only when police came the next day and were looking right in front of the houses that I knew about anything. I wasn't allowed to go down the street for an appointment.
"I'm not too surprised to hear what apparently happened. It's happened on this street before, they've found cartridges after 'shootings' in the past. It doesn't really worry me much."
A woman who lives close to the junction with Henshaw Street, said: "We didn't hear it, there's always bangs happening around here. I'm not surprised to hear what happened, there's been a lot happening around here recently.
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"We've got more important things to be worrying about. If we spent all day worrying about these kinds of things we wouldn't do anything, because it seems quite a regular occurrence."
However, with a primary school on Horsedge Road, some were also understandably concerned. "It can feel quite dangerous this street with the amount of cars always coming through. We didn't hear the bang but seeing all the police on the road was quite concerning with the amount of children around here, and with the school just there."
Police are urging anyone with information to get in touch. In a statement, a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: "Greater Manchester Policing are investigating a suspected firearms discharge on Henshaw Street and Horsedge Street in Oldham.
"It is believed to have happened on Wednesday evening (5 July 2023). There were no injuries and no arrests have been made at this time.
"Enquiries are currently ongoing. Anyone with information that can help officers with their enquires are asked to call 101 quoting incident 1177 of 06/07/2023."
