Ex-Man Utd star pays tribute to murdered gang member

Ravel Morrison salutes friend Andre Marshall who was found with gunshot wounds lying next to a car.

 

FOOTBALLER RAVEL Morrison has hailed a dead gang member who had previously been jailed for his part in a gun attack.
Police identified Andre Marshall, 29, as the man found dead in Urmston, Greater Manchester on Wednesday, May 20. A post-mortem examination revealed Marshall died of gunshot wounds.
Marshall was jailed in 2008 for assault and possession of a firearm, following an attack at a gym in 2007.
He was a member of the Gooch Gang from Manchester’s Moss Side that was involved in clashes with rival gangs in the 1990s.
Last week former Manchester United winger Morrison, who recently had his contract with West Ham United terminated, posted messages on his Twitter page expressing sorrow about Marshall’s death.
In one tweet he wrote: “It’s mad I can be with someone 2 days later there [sic] gone..R.I.P Dre.”
Another, written 13 hours later, said: ‘Dre M R.I.P Brother gone but never forgotten. Only 2 days ago we made plans how you could get rich.’
AMBUSH
Marshall was discovered lying in the road at Manor Park in Urmston, Manchester, next to a car with shots in the leg and torso in what police fear was a gangland ambush.
Detectives launched an investigation into the incident.
Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, of Greater Manchester Police, said: “We do not believe this was a random attack and we are still working to establish a motive which, as of yet, is not known.”

KILLED: Andre Marshall
A teenager from the Trafford area has been arrested on suspicion of killing Marshall. He was detained on Bank Holiday Monday, May 25, and taken into custody for questioning.
Marshall was jailed in 2008 for using a sub-machine gun in an attack on another man in a gym at Moss Side Leisure Centre in July 2007.
He carried out the attack with Antonio Wint, also a leading member of the Gooch gang, a name which harked back to the 1990s when the media dubbed the city “Gunchester” with gang names related to the streets in their patch such as Gooch Close and Pepperhill.
Wint and Marshall attacked Suliman Suliman in the weights room of the leisure centre.
Manchester Crown Court heard Suliman had been involved in a dispute with Marshall while the pair were being held at Forest Bank prison in Salford and it continued in Moss Side Leisure Centre.
But friends have paid tribute to Marshall, insisting he had turned his life around.
TRIBUTES
Mark-James Stephen Kelly was one of a number of friends who posted tributes on the Manchester Evening News’ Facebook page.
He wrote: “RIP Andre, top guy when we were kids, always smiling, laughing but also being cheeky with it. Couldn’t believe it when I heard this on the radio? Can’t imagine what your mums going through right now. No one deserves to die in the manner this young man has died. Got loads of good memories with this lad, such a joker. Least you got to see your team CHELSEA win the league. All the best bro will see you again one day. Xx.”
Another poster, Natasha Ashworth, questioned speculation from some people that his death was linked to his time as a Gooch gang member.
She wrote: “Whether or not he chose to be a part of Gooch, he chose to leave and try to sort his life out. You can say ‘its karma’ ‘nobody gets shot without a reason’. How exactly do you know that the reason he was shot was because of his past with gangs? Could have been a case of mistaken identity, a person who had gone out to kill and he just happened to be the first person he saw. No matter the reason a man died, that should be the only thing people take from this story. Rip x.”
The Major Incident Team of Greater Manchester Police is asking members of the public who may have information about the shooting to call them on 0161 856 2491 or 101.