Three arrested after driver killed

Aug 29 2009

Three men are in custody after a motorist was shot dead in his car, police said.

They were being quizzed by detectives in Sheffield investigating the murder of a 28-year-old man in the city.

The victim, who has not been identified, was shot twice as he sat behind the wheel of his silver Vauxhall Corsa in the Parsons Cross area of the city on Friday night, South Yorkshire Police said.

After suffering the fatal injury on Scraithwood Road, the driver lost control of the car, drove across Herries Road - narrowly missing a bus - and crashed into bushes at around 10.45pm.

The bus driver rushed to the scene to help and was joined by a paramedic but the man was pronounced dead.

Earlier on Saturday, detectives had appealed for sightings of a red Seat Leon hatchback car that had been seen leaving the scene seconds after the shooting.

Police said the three men, aged 28, 33 and 36, were arrested in raids at different locations across Sheffield.

A post-mortem examination revealed the victim, who was from the Darnall area of the city, died from two gunshot wounds to the body.

Detective Superintendent Peter McGuinness, who is leading the murder hunt, stressed that members of the public had no reason to fear for their safety.

"We believe this was a targeted attack and not gang related," he said. "At this stage we are keeping an open mind about the motive. Officers are conducting house to house inquiries and examining CCTV footage and we already have some good lines of inquiry we are following up."