Birmingham shooting: Man killed in Sparkbrook, two seriously injured

bbc articleA man has been shot dead in a Birmingham street.

"Two other men, one with knife wounds and another with gunshot injuries, were taken to hospital for treatment where their condition is described as serious.

One witness claimed "about 200 to 300 lads" had gathered in the area around Stratford Road in Sparkbrook prior to the killing on Wednesday evening.

Five people have been arrested, detectives said.

West Midlands Police said the dead man was aged 32. The man with gunshot wounds is aged 22 while the other man is in his 20s"

Locals are saying the dead man came from a respected family so its probably not gang/drug related.

What with this and the increased security at British airports, because of bomb screening threats, its shaping up to be quite the day...

originally posted by: Lagrimas

Locals are saying the dead man came from a respected family so its probably not gang/drug related.

Means nothing.

The best drug lords are those that hide under a cloak of respectability.

In my area 5 odd years back and very rich and respected man was busted for being one of the biggest coc aine distributors in the area.

The scummy gang bangers you find in the estates are just the disposable foot solders.

a reply to: crazyewok

I'm just reporting the news my friend, I'm sure drug lords are plenty good at hiding, but locals ARE saying not drugs n gang ie, something else.

a reply to: Lagrimas

I don't understand this post, isn't there murders and people getting killed all the time. What is the significance of this killing?

originally posted by: Skorpy
a reply to: Lagrimas

I don't understand this post, isn't there murders and people getting killed all the time. What is the significance of this killing?

No we don't have shootings in England all the time, they are much rarer, and the fact that a gang of 200 or 300 people formed before the killing took place could mean that there's SERIOUS civil unrest.

This is the civil unrest forum.

a reply to: Skorpy

I'm actually a little amused that to you, crowds forming followed by killings/hospitalisations happening is not something to keep an eye on, in the current climate.

originally posted by: Lagrimas

originally posted by: Skorpy
a reply to: Lagrimas

I don't understand this post, isn't there murders and people getting killed all the time. What is the significance of this killing?

No we don't have shootings in England all the time, they are much rarer, and the fact that a gang of 200 or 300 people formed before the killing took place could mean that there's SERIOUS civil unrest.

This is the civil unrest forum.

You don't have shootings in England but you have knifing and deaths related to knifing. Or is it because the firearm that makes this fall under the civil unrest forum? If that's the case than sorry but is totally bull $*it. You brits are really obsessed with the firearm "threat" to society. You might say no but subconsciously you are and it comes the moment that paranoia comes in surface.

originally posted by: Lagrimas
a reply to: Skorpy

I'm actually a little amused that to you, crowds forming followed by killings/hospitalisations happening is not something to keep an eye on, in the current climate.

By the looks of it they were all out there targeting each other. I wouldnt call that civil unrest.

Last month as colleges and high schools were having graduations house parties of a couple hundred people were erupting into violence every weekend around the country.

Now if they were targeting politicians or cops or some specific group that would be civil unrest.

This just appears to be neighborhood drunken morons.

He added: "It does happen around here, groups fighting among themselves.

"You do see large groups of young lads hanging around, but it doesn't usually escalate to this kind of violence."

See, what he fails to realize is that is always escalates. Nothing remains static. Two people establish a turf. Their friends start to play along. A couple get into a fistfight. It continues this way for months or years. One gets stabbed. Stabbing becomes more frequent over the years. More friends and friends of friends start playing the game. Ante's get upped and leaders stand out. Whose got the 'cool' thing? The drugs, the knives, the guns?

The longer people ignore it or pretend it's just youthful lads having it out or whatever the excuse you tell yourself is the longer it goes on unabated and escalates until you can't help but notice.

I dont live there and I wont claim to know squat about life over there but the way I see so many posters on here who do live over there talk about binge drinking and fist fights and 'hooliganism' like it's just no bother at all and simply a way of life tells me you've all been ignoring this nationwide for years and years and years and years and it will continue to escalate.

Anyone who thinks a drunken fist fight is just good 'ol fun is not seeing the big picture.

a reply to: Telos

The gun is not an issue of civil unrest. The possession of an unregistered firearm is a violation of the firearms act, the carriage of even one of the very few legally owned firearms in the UK, whilst out and about in public is another, the discharge of that weapon in a public place yet another offence, and then you have the actual shooting of the victim which is covered by a separate section of law entirely.

Those are not a matter of civil unrest. However, this incident did happen during an event which saw two to three hundred "lads" congregate in one place, which is a significant number, and constitutes a mob. If these people met up with the intention of seeing a score settled, or ready to do violence, this would constitute civil unrest, although the reason for that meeting is still unclear.

I live near this area, well about 16 miles away. The area this happened was Sparkbrook and this is a very highly populated Muslim area (over 80%). We are not sure if this is related to tensions between Muslim groups or possibly drugs, but the OP is right in saying this is well out of the ordinary.
It is unusual for shootings to occur in the UK and very unusual for large gangs of this size to be on the streets, this is how riots started a few summers back after a death similar to this, and it escalated further from fairly 'deprived' areas like this one.

originally posted by: Skorpy
a reply to: Lagrimas

I don't understand this post, isn't there murders and people getting killed all the time. What is the significance of this killing?

As someone said shootings are bloody rare in the UK.

originally posted by: Telos

You don't have shootings in England but you have knifing and deaths related to knifing. Or is it because the firearm that makes this fall under the civil unrest forum? If that's the case than sorry but is totally bull $*it. You brits are really obsessed with the firearm "threat" to society. You might say no but subconsciously you are and it comes the moment that paranoia comes in surface.

We had 551 homicides last year.... of which Knifes and other sharp instruments, such as broken bottles, made up the largest proportion of weapons involved in offences currently recorded as homicides at 35% of the total, down slightly on the previous year's 39%.

There were 9.7 Homicide offences per million in the population. Children under one had the highest victimisation rate at 30 offences per million in the population.

However, homicide still remains at a very low rate in comparison to other causes of death.
Violent crime has decreased by 13% over the past five years.


The US by contrast had 14,827 homicides with 4.7 per 100,000... which is staggeringly larger than the UK figures.
With 67% being by gun and 13% by Knives or cutting instruments.
The difference is just phenomenal though... the US is roughly 5 times the size UK and yet your homicide rate is stupidly higher, about 26 times higher.

There is no comparison, yes more people gets stabbed as a percentage in the UK and more get shot in the US.
But 26 times more people die in the US.

It's utterly insane.

You guys kill each other... A LOT more than we do.
And you know why that is? It's really easy...

GUNS.

a reply to: blupblup

Thats because our size is 26 times bigger then your little Island. How many people are in England? Just wondering. It would seem the more people the higher percentages. Just guessing here.

originally posted by: Skorpy
a reply to: blupblup

Thats because our size is 26 time bigger then your little Island.

No... your population.. you know, the amount of people in your country, is only 5 times bigger.

So no... just no.

a reply to: blupblup

Well I guess it boils down to we don't take crap off other people in our country. I know I don't. Most of the time its about respect. If you respect a person no matter what they are doing and leave them alone then most of the time they will leave you alone. it's when you try to be a hero is when you get killed.

originally posted by: Skorpy
a reply to: blupblup

Thats because our size is 26 times bigger then your little Island. How many people are in England? Just wondering. It would seem the more people the higher percentages. Just guessing here.

I think you need to go back to school and learn how to use ratios.

US 4.7 deaths per 100,000 is always going to be bigger than the UK 1 per 100,000 no matter what the population is.

And I dont thinks it guns. Switzerland has more lax gun laws than the US and they manage a murder rate of 0.6 same with the Czech Republic of 1.0 per 100,000.

I think Americans are just more desensitised to violence and more willing to employ it to solve problems guns, knifes or feathers.

originally posted by: Skorpy
a reply to: blupblup

Well I guess it boils down to we don't take crap off other people in our country. I know I don't. Most of the time its about respect. If you respect a person no matter what they are doing and leave them alone then most of the time they will leave you alone. it's when you try to be a hero is when you get killed.

I'm not disputing why people are killed, I just took issue with the poster trying to say we have just as many stabbings and we have as big an issue as America when it comes to Homicides, and we don't.
Of course we have issues, all countries do, but nothing like the US where it seems people will kill over the most minor of things.

Or perhaps there are just more criminals in the US and the law abiding citizens are doing their duty huh?

Someone breaking into your car.. shoot and kill them, why not eh?

originally posted by: blupblup


Someone breaking into your car.. shoot and kill them, why not eh?

Property defense would likely not even be included in homicide rates in most states.

originally posted by: crazyewok


Property defense would likely not even be included in homicide rates in most states.

Yeah you're probably right.
I wasn't really planning on getting into this, just saw the post up their and it wreaked of ignorance so I stepped in.

People killing people is people killing people... unless your life or someone else's life is threatened, I can never understand it.

a reply to: crazyewok
So why the hostile attitude man. I was not being sarcastic. But yet you come in here with a better than me attitude. Trying to belittle me. You need to learn some respect and quit being a punk.