![\"videoHeadline\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758334159_555_poster.jpg\")
Police appeal for information after a young girl was shot in Brentry<\/p>\n“Not only are they despicable scum, they are also cowards too”Police appeal for information after a young girl was shot in Brentry<\/p>\n
More details have emerged about the racist shooting of a nine-year-old girl<\/a> in Bristol earlier this month, as police step up the hunt for two yobs who targeted the girl in the street in the north of the city. The police chief leading the investigation described it as a \u2018cowardly, thuggish attack\u2019, and said the police and the community \u2018won\u2019t tolerate hate in the city<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n Speaking near the scene in Brentry<\/a>, DCI Keith Smith outlined the level of resources Avon and Somerset were putting into finding the two teenagers, who a local Conservative councillor described as \u2018despicable scum\u2019, as both community leaders and the police urged those who know who did it to tell police.<\/p>\n The attack happened on Chakeshill Drive in Brentry<\/a>, on the very northern edge of Bristol. DCI Smith said the attack happened out of the blue at lunchtime on Tuesday, September 2, the penultimate day of the summer holidays for local schools.<\/p>\n \u201cThe little girl has been walking down the road,\u201d explained DCI Smith. \u201cTwo males have approached her on electric scooters and then fired the weapon at her, and then as they are making off they\u2019ve been racially abusive and used racially offensive language as they have left the scene,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a cowardly, thuggish attack. Obviously we won\u2019t tolerate hate crime, we won\u2019t tolerate hate in the city, and we will investigate it and we will pursue those who commit such acts,\u201d the Det Chief Inspector said.<\/p>\n The weapon is thought to have been some kind of airgun or pellet gun. \u201cPhysically the little girl is ok at the moment, there was no significant injury. I think the real impact is on her emotional and psychological well-being,\u201d said DCI Smith.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Girl, 9, shot in racially aggravated attack<\/a>READ MORE: Neighbours’ shock at racist shooting of young girl in Bristol street<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s been a really traumatic event for the family and the little girl. The message I\u2019d send is that as a community and as a city we just need to respect their privacy at the moment, give them time to recover and process what\u2019s happened,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously we won\u2019t tolerate hate crime, we won\u2019t tolerate hate in the city, and we will investigate it and we will pursue those who commit such acts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The attack happened around 1.30pm on September 2, but police didn\u2019t make a public appeal until Wednesday this week, more than a fortnight later. News of the attack has gone national, putting additional strain on the family and the community.<\/p>\n \u201cWe try to pursue all lines of inquiry first and quite often we don\u2019t want that information out there whilst we pursue those lines of inquiry, and I think we got to the stage where we hadn\u2019t been able to identify the perpetrators at that point, and we felt that a media appeal and reaching out to the community, reaching out to the public was a viable way of trying to get that information that we really wanted to try and identify those people responsible,\u201d DCI Smith explained.<\/p>\n Now, the focus is on finding the culprits. \u201cAt the moment we\u2019ve got a lot of police resources working on various lines of inquiry. You\u2019ll see various officers doing house-to-house, doing CCTV inquiries, also going through any information or intelligence coming through systems from a variety of ways, whether that\u2019s Crimestoppers or calls in. So that\u2019s a lot of resources investigating it at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFortunately this is an isolated incident, as far as we\u2019re aware, we\u2019ve not had any other reports of anything like this occurring. I think we will see an increased police presence in the area, so engage with the officers when you see them and your PCSOs, especially if you have any information or intelligence, not just about this but anything that\u2019s going on in the area that might anti-social behaviour or criminality – speak to your local officers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n That appeal was echoed by one of the local councillors in the area, Cllr Mark Weston (Con, Henbury and Brentry), who is also the leader of the Conservative group at City Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cThankfully this is a very rare event, we don\u2019t have this very often. But it doesn\u2019t make it any less horrific,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe community generally are shocked, outraged and disgusted. You\u2019ve got two, and we think they are fairly local, individuals who have decided to carry out a racially motivated attack on a nine-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cSo not only are they despicable scum, they are also cowards too, because they\u2019ve picked on a young child in the school holidays, and that\u2019s despicable. Someone will know who these two are. They\u2019ve carried out this cowardly attack and they need to be brought to justice,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Join Bristol Live\u2019s WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. 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DCI Keith Smith speaking in Brentry Bristol, Friday 19 September 2025 about the shooting of a nine year old girl on September 2nd this year. (Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n![\"Cllr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_BRI_PG_190925watson-2.jpg\")
Cllr Mark Weston (Con, Henbury and Brentry) speaking in Brentry Bristol, Friday 19 September 2025 about the shooting of a nine year old girl on September 2nd this year(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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