Man shot dead as gunman opens fire at party

A MAN celebrating at a 60th birthday party has been shot dead by a gunman.

The victim, named as 23-year-old Mark Short, was gunned down in the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, shortly before 11.50pm on Friday.

Three other men, believed to be related to Short, were also injured and are being treated in hospital.

Speaking from the scene, Chief Superintendent Nick Adderley said a man burst into the private party and opened fire on a group of men around the pool table.

“We don’t believe this to be a random attack, although we are not clear about who the intended victim was,” he said.

“We understand this was a family occasion and that a lone gunman walked into the premises and opened fire on a group of males stood by the pool table.”

Between 20 and 30 people, aged 18-65, were said to have been in the pub at the time.

Adderley said officers were keeping an open mind about the motive but said all the victims were known to the police. Two men, aged 25 and 26, were shot in the leg and a 29-year-old man was shot in his lower back.

The gunman was wearing a balaclava and escaped in a Ford Focus, which was later found abandoned and alight in Hattersley on the western edge of Greater Manchester.

A murder investigation has been launched by Greater Manchester Police.