Police make appeal after Small Heath father is gunned down in street

Mar 14 2009 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM businessman gunned down in the street in front of his teenage son was shot at “close quarters”, police said today.

The 63-year-old married father, named locally as Talib Hussain, was walking towards the front door of the home he shares with his wife and children in Small Heath when he was ambushed at about 11.20pm a week last Thursday.

Police said the hitman, his face covered with a balaclava, walked right up to him before firing a number of shots into the victim’s stomach and leg.

The wounded man, who is understood to run an off-licence in the Midlands, remains in a critical condition in hospital.

Acting Det Chief Insp Simon Vowles, from Stechford CID, said: “Witnesses have talked about the offender being at fairly close quarters and wearing a balaclava.

“We are still keeping an open mind about the motive. Given the close quarters of the attack, it seems as though he was the intended victim.

“Some of the answers may lie with the victim.