Gosport proves to be hotbed of growing band of snipers causing alarm across area
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The danger of the weapons has been graphically highlighted by the incident in Williams close on Monday when Ashley Parkes’ 10-year-old daughter was left needing stitches with a ‘gaping hole’ in the head and a ‘puddle of blood’.
She was struck while on a trampoline - raising fears that people are not even safe on their own property.
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Hide AdBut there have been a number of other incidents that have increased anxiety.
A pregnant woman, aged 27, was shot on Monday afternoon by youths who were hiding in the bushes at Royal Victoria Country Park, in Netley.
The victim was spotted in an adjacent field before being shot twice with BB gun pellets, once in the hip and another close to the stomach.
It has also been reported a boy was recently shot in the neck in Gosport before the offenders made off.
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Hide AdLast year in Gosport a number of cats were shot in the Hardway area of the town sparking a police hunt for the perpetrators.
A cat in Fareham was also left in a critical condition in December after being blasted by pellets.
Last April police arrested two teenagers over class A drug and firearm offences after an investigation into a suspected BB gun shooting near Havant Park.
A mystery sniper also picked off three people who were struck by missiles from a suspected air weapon outside the Co-op in Forton Road last February.
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Hide AdIn March 2019 in Gosport three people were shot with a BB gun and house windows were smashed by a gang of four teenage boys wearing school uniform.
Further afield in the county, a sniper left children ‘traumatised’ after firing BB gun pellets into Carvers Recreation Ground in Ringwood last August.
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Commenting on the situation, a police spokesman played down the incidents this week. ‘We are not aware of it being a particular issue – seemingly isolated incidents in a matter of days,’ he said.