Armed police swooped on a house to detain a man wanted on suspicion of attempted murder after a double shooting in Wigan.
A specialist operation by Wigan CID, Serious and Organised Crime Group, and Force Critical Wanted Unit resulted in the arrest of a 20-year-old man, who was found in a loft in Chorlton, south Manchester, on Friday (March 18).
It comes after two men were seriously injured after shots were fired at two separate addresses in the Leigh area of Wigan on the evening of Wednesday, January 26 this year.
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Police were first called to a scene on Hawthorne Grove at around 5.45pm in response to an incident and found there had been a firearms discharge. Officers then received reports of a second shooting on Shadwell Grove - exactly one mile away.
A 33-year-old man suffered serious life-changing shotgun injuries after the attack, with his condition now described as stable. Another man in his 20s was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.
Yesterday afternoon, armed operatives from GMP's Tactical Firearms Unit targeted a terraced house on Nicolas Road in the leafy suburb of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
A 20-year-old man was said to have been located in the loft of the building and arrested. He remains in custody waiting to be quizzed by detectives on suspicion of attempted murder, section 18 assault, robbery and sexual assault.
Much of Nicolas Road was sealed off by police for around several hours on Friday afternoon, as officers remained at the scene whilst the property was searched for evidence.
Residents described hearing shouts of 'armed police' as officers could be seen approaching a house. Pictures show several armed officers at the door of a terraced property.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said: "We were in the back room and heard someone shouting. It sounded like an altercation at first but then I realised they were saying 'armed police'.
"There were four armed response vehicles. You don’t see that level of police response very often." Another woman said she heard shouts of "armed police, stand back" at about 4.50pm.
She added: "They sawed down the door. There were five vans, cars and multiple officers out front. One had a shield and others had big guns. It was scary. I was crouching down in my window."
Another neighbour said a 100-150 metre stretch of Nicolas Road was taped off for around two hours as police carried out their investigations.
Assistant Chief Constable Scott Green said: "Recent incidents in the Wigan area will no doubt have caused understandable concern in the town as we have seen some serious and deliberate acts of violence that could have left somebody fatally injured.
"Last night's strike demonstrates the excellent collaboration we have here at GMP of officers and detectives working together across different districts, and between a number of central resources, to operate in such a swift and decisive manner to bring to custody those that we believe are responsible for such serious incidents.
"Firearms discharges are down a third in Greater Manchester in the last 12 months and that is a trend we are only determined to continue decreasing; so when attacks like this are reported to us, suspects and the public alike should see this action and know to expect a very robust response from us."
