Gunmen fired over 30 shots in drive-by killing of teens

POLICE hunting the gunmen who killed two teenage girls at a party in Birmingham say more than 30 shots were fired in the attack.

At least two weapons, including a sub-machine gun, were used in the shootings outside a hairdressing salon in the city on Thursday.

Now the government is considering jailing people caught with illegal firearms for at least five years as part of a response to rising gun crime.

Rewards totalling £10,000 have been put up in an effort to catch the killers of Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespear, 17.

Charlene's twin sister Sophie and 17-year-old Cheryl Shaw, who were also injured in the incident, are both described as stable in hospital. Detectives stressed that none of the girls was a member of a gang.

They released a picture of the girls who had posed for the snap moments before leaving to attend the party.

The four girls, who are all from Birmingham, had stepped out of the party at the Uniseven Studios hairdressing salon in Birchfield Road, Aston, at 4am to cool off, when they were hit by a stream of bullets.

Forensic officers worked through the night into yesterday morning, examining the scene and a bullet-ridden car found nearby.

A ballistics expert concentrated on spent rounds found on the ground at the rear of the hairdressers.

One possibility detectives are examining is that the girls were caught up in an exchange of gunfire between rival gangs.