Cousins were killed in hail of machine-gun bullets

Two young cousins killed in an apparent gang fight died in a hail of 30 bullets, police revealed yesterday.

Officers investigating the "exceptionally brutal" incident in Birmingham, in which two teenage girls died and two others were injured, said at least three weapons, one of which was a sub-machine gun, had been fired in the early hours of Thursday.

Yesterday they named the dead girls as Charlene Ellis, 18, and Latisha Shakespear, 17.

Charlene's twin sister, Sophie, was under armed guard in hospital yesterday, in a stable condition after surgery. A fourth cousin, Cheryl Shaw, 17, was discharged from hospital after treatment for a wound to one hand.

The four girls had stepped outside the ticketed party at the Uniseven Studios hairdressing salon, in the inner-city area of Aston, at 4am and were caught in the crossfire of what appeared to be a fight between gangs.

Detective Superintendent Dave Mirfield, the officer leading the inquiry, said: "It could be gang-related. I would not be naive enough to think it would not be. My overwhelming thoughts are that these girls are innocent and were caught up in an exchange of fire."

The salonlies between two districts associated with rival gangs, known as the Johnson Crew, from Aston, and the Burger Bar Boys, from Lozells. A turf war between the two groups began nearly 10 years ago, and has resulted in numerous gangland-style executions, armed robberies and drive-by shootings.

Det Supt Mirfield declined to comment on the two gangs but said: "Somebody knows something and we need them to come forward, family friends or whoever. I need the people that were at the party at the time to come forward. I need people who were outside and anyone who knows anything about this to make contact."