Police have been quick to reassure residents following the shooting at the Oxney Road travellers site in Peterborough on Monday (17 September) and stepped up patrols in the area.
Inspector Dominic Glazebrook, who heads up the eastern policing team in the city, met residents and officials at a neighbourhood committee meeting on Tuesday evening.
He told the meeting that they did not need to fear for their safety.
Inspector Glazebrook said: “The shootings continue to be treated as an isolated incident and there is no information to suggest members of the public are at risk.
“However we realise that people will be concerned about what happened and held a community meeting to reassure residents as well as increasing patrols in the area.”
Nearby neighbours of the site said there was not much trouble in the area and praised the Neighbourhood Watch for helping build relationships between the travellers and non-travellers.
Pamela Chelmiah is chairman of Neighbourhood Watch in the city.
She said: “The shooting has not caused any undue concern amongst residents in the area.
“The travellers keep themselves to themselves and don’t cause any trouble.
“The relationship in the last eight years has been a good one, everyone is quite happy.
“I don’t think this latest incident is one people are worried about.”
East Ward councillor Marion Todd said: “From what the police have been saying there is no need for people outside the travelling community to worry.
“Obviously the incident was very, very alarming for residents around that area but the police have been very reassuring.”
Gun crime remains thankfully rare in Peterborough
The last case reported near to the city was a shooting in November.
It was claimed two vehicles were shot at from another vehicle on the A47 near Guyhirn.
One of the cars ended up overturned in a ditch.
Police initially suspected it was a drink driving case but it was quickly alleged it was a shooting.
Officers had to close a long stretch of the A47, one of the busiest in the Fenlands, for much of the day.
Joseph Upton, of Murrow Lane, Parson Drove, Wisbech, was charged with the five counts of attempted murder but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case.
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