KILLINGS RAISE FEAR OF GANG WAR

POLICE moved yesterday to calm tension on the streets of Manchester's
"Bronx", where there are fears of an imminent war between drug gangs after
three fatal shootings.

Officers took the unusual step of offering a pounds 30,000 reward for
information leading to the killers of three men who were within 16 days
around Moss Side.

More than 60 officers are working on the murders of Martin Bennett, 25,
Dorrie McKie, 20, and Anthony Cook, 24.

Police launched the investigation amid fears circulating throughout Moss
Side that fighting among gangs for the right to control the drug trade has
again spilled on to the streets.

Detective Superintendent Tony Simister, leading the inquiry, insisted that
he knew the motives for two of the murders and they were "anything but gang
related". He said: "All I can say at this stage of the inquiry is that
there is nothing to suggest these murders are either tit-for-tat or that
particular gang members are roaming the streets."

The investigation is politically sensitive in a city that came to abhor its
unwanted nickname "Gunchester". City councillors have been advised not to
fuel speculation about the resurgence of gun culture.

Moss Side and Hulme were once a struggling inner-city area, scarred by
empty high-rise blocks that formed the backdrop to a ten-year battle
between the Gooch Close and Doddington gangs, both of which were armed. It
culminated in the fatal shooting of Benji Stanley, 14, in January 1993 as
he queued at a takeaway shop. His killer has never been caught.

The area, which once conjured up images of drug runners on mountain bikes
and youngsters toting guns, has undergone a remarkable makeover in recent
years. Developers, encouraged by private and public investment, have built
hundreds of new homes within walking distance of the city centre. Prices
have risen during the past two years from pounds 40,000 to pounds 100,000.

The Moss Side and Hulme Partnership has overseen economic regeneration and
the creation of a park, and has attracted new blue-chip employers. But
leading figures in what they call Moss Side's "radical transformation" are
queueing up to express concern that the sound of gunfire could damage this
growing confidence. Ordinary residents are frightened again.

The latest shootings began on July 31 when Martin Bennett was shot as he
walked along Great Western Road at 6pm. He was taken to Manchester Royal
Infirmary but died from a single gunshot wound.

On August 3 Dorrie McKie and his friend were chased as they drove along
Hulme Street at 11.15pm. They turned into a cul-de-sac where they were
surrounded by five or six masked men on mountain bikes. McKie was shot
three times and his friend once. His friend survived but he died. Police
have yet to establish a motive.

The most dramatic killing took place in the early hours of August 15 when a
Volkwagen Jetta driven by Anthony Cook, a gangland figure, was pursued at
high speed through Moss Side by a series 5 BMW. The front-seat passenger
was firing shots from an automatic weapon.

The Jetta eventually came to a halt in Chorlton on Medlock after crashing
into another car. A man casually stepped out of the chasing car and fired
several bullets at Cook, who died. He then shot his passenger three times.
The injured man is still in hospital under police protection.

Recently local youths sporting bandannas, the symbol of Moss Side gangs,
have knelt in respect at the scene of Bennett's murder.

Mr Simister acknowledged that witnesses might be frightened to come
forward. He emphasised that protection would be offered to anyone with
important information.

In a sign of how seriously the police take this latest violence, Chief
Superintendent Lillian King, Commander of the South Manchester Division,
has personally assured residents that extra police patrols have been sent
to Moss Side.

It may mean further distress for city councillors, but Manchester's
unwanted reputation for violence is attracting interest from the film
world. Producers are planning to set Molly's Idle Ways, a gangster film
described as rougher and readier than Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,
in the city.