'I feared gunman would kill me' says man shot in legs

8:14am Wednesday 20th August 2008

A Bradford man shot twice in a horrifying gun attack has spoken for the first time about the moment he thought he was going to die.

Zafar Iqbal was shot in both legs just yards from his home.

He has just been released from hospital and though he will walk again his injuries will take at least 18 months to fully heal.

Mr Iqbal, 33, of Killinghall Road, Bradford, said: “I left my house to visit my parents at their home just a few doors away. It was about 9.55pm. There were quite a few people on the street and a number of cars going past.

“As I began to walk I noticed a car coming down the road towards me. It indicated it was turning into the side street in front of me so I stopped to let it past.

“As it drew level the car stopped and the rear passenger door opened. I saw a man pointing a gun at me. The second I saw the gun the first shot was fired which clipped my right leg close to the knee.”

Mr Iqbal turned and tried to run but was struck by a second shot which hit his left calf.

“I fell to the ground,” he said. “I must have lain there for a few seconds. I was just in total shock.

“It was terrifying, I felt like I was in a war zone or something, like I was in Iraq or Afghanistan and had been hit.

“I had no time to think anything really. I was just in fear for my life. I saw the gun and it took a split second to register what was happening. This kind of thing does not happen around here every day.

“I thought I was going to be killed. I just thought ‘This is the end’.

“I somehow managed to get to my feet. I saw the car and the people in it but they all had their faces covered. The car drove off.

“I remember another car going past, in the other direction. I remember the driver looking at me, he was a white man and we looked at each other.

“It was like he was making sure I was all right. Then the car did a U-turn and began to chase the car with the gunmen in it, like he was trying to catch them.

“I phoned the police on my mobile phone and told them I had been shot. I was in a lot of pain and there was blood everywhere, people were coming out onto the street. They were very shocked.

“The police and the ambulance came very quickly and did an excellent job. I was in hospital in a matter of minutes and the police guarded me all the way there and while I was on the ward too.

“The first few nights I kept waking up, reliving what had happened – the fact that someone wanted me dead.”

Mr Iqbal is now able to hobble, with the aid of crutches. He says the doctors told him he was lucky the first shot had not connected with his knee or he might have been permanently disabled.

He has heavy strappings and bandages and an open cast on his injured leg, which suffered substantial tissue damage.

He called on the community to come forward to help police catch those responsible.

“The community has to come forward,” he said.

“People know who did this. Gun crime is a growing trend and it is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

“The police are doing their best and I have full faith in them that they will catch those responsible, but the community must act too.

“Acts of violence like this should not be tolerated in a civilised society. It happened to me but next time it could be someone else.”

Mr Iqbal said he was unable to discuss why he thought he had been shot because the police investigation was ongoing, but after the shooting reports suggested the attack was related to a longstanding dispute over a business he once owned.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said inquiries into the attack were ongoing. He appealed for anyone with any information to contact Bradford South CID on 0845 6060606.

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