Liberton shooting: Police release suspect details

Police and forensics officers at the scene in Liberton. Picture: Greg Macvean

Armed officers were called to Kenilworth Drive, Liberton, just after 4am yesterday after reports that shots were fired at a top-floor flat.

The window of a BMW car parked outside the block of flats was also smashed in the incident.

The shooting comes just over a week after shots were fired at a home in the north of the city, and it follows a spate of firearms incidents in the Gilmerton and Inch areas in September.

Kenilworth Drive has been sealed off. Picture: Paris Gourtsoyannis

Police said it was too early to say whether the incident was linked to wider problems of gang violence or drug abuse in the city.

And they moved to reassure the community that the incident did not pose a wider risk.

The south Edinburgh property was cordoned off with police tape throughout yesterday while forensics officers combed the area. Officers took photographs of the damaged car, as well as within the top-floor flat. However, there was no visible damage to the property.

It is understood that the main door to the block does not have a buzzer system, meaning the shots may have been fired within the stairwell.

Officers are now looking to trace a man described as white, aged between 18 and 25, wearing a grey hooded top and grey trousers.

Chief Inspector Chris Scobbie, area commander for Edinburgh South, said in a memo to community leaders that there was “no indication” of a risk to public. He added: “I am keen to hear of any community tensions or concerns relating to this matter.”

The property was occupied at the time of the incident, but it is not known how many people were in the flat.

Detective Inspector Stuart Harkness, who is leading the investigation, said: “Fortunately, no-one was injured. However, that does not take away from the serious and reckless nature of this incident. There will be additional officers patrolling the area in the coming days.

“We are appealing to the public or delivery drivers who may have been in the area at the time to get in touch if they witnessed any suspicious activity.”

Local councillor Nick Cook said: “I am troubled to hear the reports of gunshots being fired in the Kenilworth Drive area. Following on from relatively recent similar incidents elsewhere in the ward, residents are rightly concerned by this. Incidents like this have no place in the local community.”

Officers are continuing to investigate shootings at the front door of a home at West Pilton in the early hours of March 3. Detectives probing the incident have charged three men in connection with other crimes, but they are still hunting the gunman.

Police said that last week’s incident was not being linked to the shooting in Liberton. However, officers are keeping an open mind.