This is the terrifying moment mourners were forced to flee for their lives as gunshots were blasted at them from a passing car.
Four teenagers here hurt, including a 14-year-old girl, as gunman Meshaq Berryman tried to murder people paying their respects to a teenage stab victim in Birmingham.
Dramatic footage released by West Midlands Police first shows the congregation gathered outside St Mary’s Church Hall, Lozells, for the wake of Akeem Bailey.
As the video plays four gunshots can be heard ringing out in Hamstead Road as Berryman fired a gun from the backseat of a stolen Nissan Qashqai pulled up outside the group of people paying their respects.
Mourners can be seen ducking for cover as the car races off from the drive-by shooting which detectives said could have easily resulted in a “triple murder probe.”
BirminghamLive reports three teenagers were shot and a schoolgirl aged 14 suffered significant injuries as she was ‘trampled’ by the fleeing crowd.
One 19-year-old was shot in the chest, while another victim of the same age was blasted in the left foot. A man aged 18 was hit in the right knee.
The stolen Qashqai later found abandoned two miles away in Little Francis Grove, in the Nechells area of the city.
Detective Inspector Francis Nock, from West Midlands Police, said following the shooting, bullet casings were found on the street nearby, a huge amount of CCTV was reviewed and forensic enquiries linked suspects to the vehicle.
Footage released by the force captures Berryman’s arrest, with him sitting in the back of a police van in a blue and red dressing gown.
An officer off-camera says: “Alright mate, Mr Berryman, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of [the victims] on Friday, February 24 on Hamstead Road.”
Berryman, who was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder, believed rival gang members would be at the wake – despite Mr Bailey hailing no links to gangs.
He had earlier admitted possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and cannabis, after more than 40 wraps of drugs, along with digital scales were found at his home.
Det Insp Francis Nock, from the force’s Major Crime Team, said: “If ever you can expect a moment in time where you should be able to feel safe, and mourn your loved one peacefully, it should be at a funeral and the following wake.
“You can see on the CCTV the congregation is gathered as the vehicle drives past and the gunshots are fired. You can just see the sheer panic in the group as they run, searching for any place to run to hide and save their own life.
“Not only did we have the three young men who were shot, we also had the young girl who was trampled in the crowd who also received significant injuries. I have absolutely no doubt it will affect the people present at that wake for years to come, and in some cases, the rest of their lives.”
Berryman will be sentenced on December 6. A second man had been charged with three attempted murder charges, but was cleared of all charges on October 29 after a trial this month.
