A pensioner told how he was confronted by two men shouting “Our friend’s been shot in the head’.
Seconds earlier, Barry Hudson, 70, had been woken by banging on his back door at his home in Waverley Terrace, Marsh.
And he admitted he was terrified his home was being burgled before realising a third man was bleeding badly on his doorstep.
The man was in hospital; last night after becoming the victim of a drive-by shooting in Gledholt, Huddersfield.
He and his friends had been in a car which was shot at by men from another vehicle in Heaton Road late on Thursday.
The injured man and the others abandoned the car and fled on foot, turning up at Mr Hudson’s home seeking help.
Mr Hudson said: “Two Asian youths came up the steps to the back door and tried to force their way in to my house. They were being aggressive and I have to admit I was a bit scared. We tussled as I didn’t want to let them in.
“One of them said: ‘We’re being chased, our friend has been shot in the face. I was in panic mode, I didn’t know what to do. They grabbed a letter from the table, which I now know was to get the address for an ambulance ,but I pushed them back and managed to get them outside and locked the door.
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“I phoned 999 and the call handler was absolutely brilliant.
“I went upstairs and looked outside and a third man was by the gate. His face was pouring with blood.”
Mr Hudson, who has a heart condition, said he felt like he should have helped them but was intimidated and threatened because they were being so aggressive.
“When they said their friend had been shot his injuries were so bad I thought it was a spoof or something to trick me into letting them in.
“There was blood everywhere all over the back door”.
He added:”The police have been absolutely brilliant. The lady on the phone I spoke to until they arrived was fabulous.
“When police arrived they were armed with guns and it was a bit intimidating but again they were incredible.”
Meanwhile, residents told how they woke to see a man ‘covered in blood’ in a ginnel behind their Huddersfield homes.
Residents said they heard voices in a ginnel at the rear of Waverley Terrace and witnesses have told the men attempted to get into a number of houses.
One resident, who does not wish to be named said: “I could hear voices in the ginnel. Someone was saying he’d been shot and I looked out from the bedroom window and a man was covered in blood.”
The Examiner understands the three men then managed to get into a house and the owner thought he himself was going be attacked.
But when they explained they wanted an address for an ambulance, police and paramedics were called.
The shooting was at around 11.40pm and large areas were cordoned off as police stepped up inquiries.
The victim was a 24-year-old man.
Det Supt Simon Atkinson said: “At the present time we are treating this incident as a targeted attack.
“We believe the man was shot as he was travelling in the car. The suspects are thought to have been in another vehicle when the firearm was discharged” .
Two men aged 23 and 22 have been arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm.
Det Supt Atkinson added: “While I understand that incidents of this nature are disturbing, I do not believe there is any wider danger to members of the public and additional neighbourhood officers are in the area to reassure local residents.”
