'I stood at tense Blayton Road cordon as shaken community came to terms with shooting'
I visited a police cordon on Blayton Road in Sheffield today after a shooting and spoke to locals, who offered a mixture of both frustration and pride in their neighbourhood.
I arrived in Pitsmoor to find a busy, active crime scene. Blue tape sealed off the street and officers carefully registered people in and out of the cordon.
Crime Scene Investigators, dressed head to toe in white suits, came and went as detectives spoke quietly among themselves.
At least five police cars lined the street alongside tactical support vans and CSI vehicles. Uniformed officers patrolled the area, their radios crackling.
Despite the activity, life outside the cordon carried on as normal.
Buses trundled past, dog walkers paused to look. Shoppers hung out of doorways, while others sat outside, trying to work out what was happening.
I stopped to speak to people as they went about their day.
“It was a shock to hear, but honestly nothing really surprises me anymore,” said Steve Walmsley, who had been out walking his dog nearby.
“It’s scary, but it’s not unusual round here. You come to expect it.”
Steve has lived in the area most of his life.
“I was on Blayton Road from 1980 to 1993, and now I’m over in Firshill,” he told me.
“I’ve always been around here. But I’ll tell you, it’s gone downhill. I’d say 80 per cent of the issues are drug-related.”
He gestured as he spoke: “Outside my flat, not so long ago, there was a drug raid. Before that I’d seen deals happening right under my window, it’s everywhere.”
Asked what he thought would make a difference, he was clear: “There aren’t enough police about. I’d like to see more officers here, definitely.”
Two builders working on a property nearby, still in their hi-vis jackets, told me they hadn’t been around when the incident happened.
“We don’t know what went off,” one said, “but if you told us it was a shooting or something drug-related, we’d believe you. Because of the area.”
Another man, who lives on the street, recalled being woken suddenly in the night.
“I heard two big bangs at around two in the morning,” he said.
“At first I thought it was fireworks, but fireworks don’t just stop after two. I knew it was something different.”
But not everyone painted the same bleak picture.
A woman waiting for her bus shook her head when I asked if the neighbourhood felt unsafe. "I've been here nearly 50 years,” she said.
“Never had any problems. It’s a friendly place and people get on with each other.”
She introduced me to her friend, a local shopkeeper, who echoed her words. “It’s made out to be worse than it really is,” he insisted.
“We’ve been here decades and this is a good community - people look out for one another.”
Even on my way home, the subject followed me. My Uber driver asked what I’d been up to, and when I explained, he gave a knowing nod.
“I wouldn’t drive a cash taxi round here,” he admitted. “But I’m fine doing Ubers. Everyone knows what this area’s like. It’s much better than it was before, though. Definitely.
“But I’d never walk through here alone at night - no chance,” he added. “Growing up in Sheffield, you learn that from a young age.
“Still, there are some lovely, decent people here. The shame is, they all get tarred with the same brush. I’ve met some great people in this area.”
I have to agree: pretty much everyone I’d spoken to in the area had been friendly and welcoming, happy to chat with me - which certainly can’t be said for some other areas of the city.
South Yorkshire Police confirmed officers were called to Blayton Road at 2.40am this morning ( September 30) after reports of a firearm being discharged at a property.
Here, armed officers found damage to windows and a door “consistent with a firearm discharge.”
The occupants inside the house were not injured.
The cordon I visited this morning has recently been lifted, but the force is appealing for anyone with information to call 101, quoting incident number 66 of September 30, 2025.