21 August 2023 , 21:53
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Police stormed residential streets after receiving reports of a person with a gun - which turned out to be a walking stick.
It's thought armed officers and police dogs attended the callout in several vehicles on Sunday evening after concerned members of the public thought they'd seen someone with a weapon. The units were stood down after two hours though as, by this time, they'd established the item was in fact a walking aid.
Nobody was arrested, of course, and the case was closed. Members of the public in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, had somehow mistaken the walking stick for a firearm.
A screenshot from a video taken on Sunday and seen by Manchester Evening News shows at least three police vehicles in attendance in the sprawling inner-city neighbourhood, home to families. Residents were baffled and shared their amusement on social media. "How can a stick look like a gun?" one man posted online.
But police are being vigilant in the area current following a recent gangland drive-by shooting outside a café which led to the downfall of two rival drug gangs. Following the attack, the gunman was helped to flee the country by his brother, and still remains at large. His brother, Ahsan Shabbir, and four other men were jailed for their involvement in the shooting, as well as for a raft of drug dealing offences.
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This month, Hazhar Anwar, 31, was jailed for 22 years and 9 months. Danyal Ahmed, 25, was jailed for 12 years and 6 months. Ahsan Shabbir, 21, was jailed for 9 years and four months. Reece Hing, 21, was jailed for six years. Mujtaba Saeed, 23, was jailed for seven years Zain Sarfraz previously received a suspended prison sentence after admitting perverting the course of justice.