It started with a single appeal on 11 July. West Yorkshire Police put out the call for information on Luqman Khan, 24, from Bradford. They need to find him. A man lies in hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and life-threatening injuries. The facts are stark. They demand attention.
The shooting happened at about 10.57pm on 8 July at the junction of Gaythorne Road and Parsonage Road in West Bowling. A 28-year-old man was hit. He was rushed to hospital. As of the latest update he remains there in a critical condition. Two men in their 20s have since been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, one in Bradford and one in the Ipswich area. A vehicle was recovered. The investigation sits with the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team.
Detective Chief Inspector Dan Bates of that team put the situation plainly.
This was clearly a very serious incident where a man has suffered life-threatening injuries. I would like to hear from anyone who knows the whereabouts of Luqman Khan who we urgently want to locate as part of our enquiries. We believe he has travelled to Suffolk and may be in the Ipswich or Felixstowe areas.
Police describe Khan as an Asian male. They think he headed to Suffolk after the incident. That detail matters. It shows how quickly these cases can spread beyond one city. The manhunt crossing county lines, the rapid arrests, the recovery of a vehicle, all point to determined work by specialist officers. This is what firm enforcement looks like when communities face armed violence.
Gun crime does not stay contained. One shooting on a Bradford street at night ripples outward. It tests public confidence. It tests the systems meant to keep people safe. Yet here the response has been immediate. Detectives are not waiting. They have named the man they want to speak to and asked the public to come forward with information via 101, live chat or Crimestoppers. That urgency sends a clear signal. Serious firearms offences will be pursued without hesitation.
The two arrests already made, one local and one further afield in Ipswich, suggest the net is widening. A vehicle linked to the case has been taken in. These steps matter. They demonstrate that police are treating every strand seriously, from the moment the shots were fired to the movement of potential witnesses or helpers in the hours that followed. In an era when some still push softer approaches to repeat offenders, this level of focus feels necessary. It protects the ordinary families who live on those streets.
