Police in Scotland have launched a murder inquiry after a man injured in a pitched battle in Glasgow involving more than a dozen men died in hospital on Sunday night.
The men fought with guns, knives and other weapons in what one resident described as being like something out of the wild west.
Glasgow has witnessed an increase in gun incidents and other violent attacks in recent months, much of it related to a turf war between two criminal gangs. Police stressed the fight on Saturday night in the Castlemilk district was not connected to the gangland attacks and the initial investigation suggested a feud between two families.
Six men were taken to hospital after the attack, two of them from gunshot wounds. On Sunday night Jamie Lee, 23, died at the Queen Elizabeth University hospital, and another man, aged 25, was described as being in a serious condition. The four others were discharged.
The fight, which broke out at about 8pm near a children’s playground, was witnessed by many residents in houses overlooking the scene. One told the Daily Record: “This is like something out of the wild west, with two gangs fighting it out in broad daylight. It’s absolutely sickening that they have been forced to witness this kind of violence.”
Another resident told the Record: “There were people running about with machetes earlier and there was a guy lying in a garden who looked as if he had died. It was carnage. I have never seen so many police cars, vans and ambulances in the one place.”
DCI Martin Fergus said: “I understand that local people in the area are very concerned about this level of violence taking place in broad daylight on their streets and I’d like to reassure them that we are doing everything that we can to track down everyone involved in this incident.
“Many people would have seen what happened and we ask that they come forward and support us in our investigation. We will have extra patrols in the area for the foreseeable future and we would encourage the public to come forward and speak to these officers with any information they have, or indeed any concerns they have.”
Supt John McBride told the BBC that officers would be patrolling the area to reassure the local community. He said: “It happened on a sunny Saturday evening when children were undoubtedly out playing in the area and if you’re a parent there and you’ve got a young kid, you probably want that feeling of safety.
“It is important for people to know that this was not a random attack, it was a targeted attack involving two separate factions.”
High-profile incidents in Glasgow over the past few months include the slashing of Steven “Bonzo” Daniel, the nephew of the late gangland boss Jamie Daniel, after a car chase in May, a shooting outside a school in January and the fatal shooting of Euan Johnston in November.
