Barnsley Road shooting: Sheffield neighbours ‘don’t feel safe’ as police investigate gunshots at property

South Yorkshire Police revealed this morning (October 6) that it has launched an investigation after a gun was fired at a property late last night in the Fir Vale area of the city.

The suspects, reported to have been wearing dark clothing, fired shots towards an address on Barnsley Road, between the junctions with Crabtree Close and Fir Vale Road, near the Northern General Hospital, at around 11.20pm.

Nobody is believed to have been injured during the incident but a property was damaged, which The Star visited earlier. The door of the house had a wooden block on it, and the main window on the ground floor had been partially boarded up. The window pane was on the ground in the front drive with a hole in it.

The suspects are said to have been riding a motorcycle and rode away in the direction of the Northern General Hospital after firing at the Barnsley Road address.

One neighbour, who would like to remain anonymous, said she was in bed reading at the time of the incident.

"I heard loud noises and people talking loudly. There’s always loud noises going on so I didn’t pay much attention. Then I was closing the blinds and looked out the window and I saw a police car there and it had been cordoned off as well," she said.

Although she has lived in the area for over 20 years, she said there has "definitely" been a rise in crime in the area in recent years.

"It was a really nice area, you never heard about anything like this. But in recent years it’s just gone from bad to worse. It feels unsafe," she added.

"I used to know all the neighbours and the old people, but they’ve all passed away now and new people are moving in and they all have dogs - it’s scary. I’m scared to go outside now, I used to go for a walk everyday and now I’m too scared."

Police inspector Alec Gibbons said there will be increased patrols being carried out in the area to provide reassurance to local residents. 

Anyone with information should call 101 and quote incident number 1,058 of October 5, 2023. If you have CCTV/ video doorbell footage or Dashcam, you can email this to [email protected] quoting the same incident number in the email subject line.

Crimestoppers can also be contacted on 0800 555111 or by completing an online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.