Police praised after shooting incident (From Northwich Guardian)

Police praised after shooting incident

8:30am Monday 22nd October 2012 in News By Gina Bebbington

A WOMAN has praised the work of a Northwich police officer after she was shot in the face by a BB gun.

The pellet missed her eye by an inch but all she required from the yobs who shot at her on a September afternoon was an apology.

The incident happened in Chester Road at 1.30pm on September 25.

The 59-year-old Northwich woman, who does not wish to be named, said: “I was walking home in the rain along Chester Road after work.

“I felt a sudden sharp pain high on my cheekbone.

“I thought it was a piece of gravel thrown up by one of the passing cars but a young man nearby told me that someone had pointed a BB gun out of the window of a passing car.”

She added: “When I thought to check my face there was no mark, although I could feel where the pellet had struck for several days.”

The woman managed to chase after the car and memorised the registration number, which she was able to tell police.

PC Kevin Anderson, from Northwich Neighbourhood Policing Team, visted her at home on the same day and took all the details, making her feel relaxed and comfortable about talking through the incident.

He also asked her how she wanted the incident to be dealt with.

“He asked if I wanted to take things further if he was able to find the car and the people involved,” she said.

“I said I didn’t as I hadn’t been seriously hurt but I might have felt differently if the pellet had cut me.

“I wanted them to be warned about what might have happened and stopped from doing it to anyone else.”

At 5.20pm PC Anderson rang her back to say he had tracked down both the car and the three culprits, they were at Northwich police station and were willing to apologise.

“I cannot fault the way he dealt with me, how he used the information I gave him to find the perpetrators and how he dealt with them,” she said.

“If this is modern day policing, let’s support it wholeheartedly.

“Northwich is very lucky to have officers like PC Kevin Anderson in the force.”