FEARS OF 'TURF WAR' AS MAN IS SHOT DEAD

A Gangland Figure Has Been Shot Dead In Manchester - The Third Such Killing
In The City In Six Weeks.

Anthony Cook was a passenger in a car involved in a high-speed chase. His
car crashed and the killer stepped out of the chase vehicle and shot him
seven times in the head and chest with an automatic weapon. Cook, 24, died
at the scene.

His driver, aged 20, was shot three times in the stomach, but managed to
stagger out of the car to appeal for help from a couple in another vehicle
involved in the crash in Chorlton on Medlock. Last night he was in
Manchester Royal Infirmary under police guard. His condition was described
as comfortable.

The killing, on Sunday morning, has sparked fears among council leaders
that Manchester may be slipping into a brutal turf war between rival Moss
Side and Cheetham Hill drug gangs that are vying for supremacy. Cook had
been asserting himself within the Doddington gang in Moss Side.

A senior detective said: "It does appear this murder is gang-related, but
it is too early to be certain what the motive was."

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said that the murder was not at
this stage being linked with other recent fatal shootings around Moss Side.