THE news that a shot was fired at a police car in Worcester will come as a shock to many of our readers.

As we report on our front page, police were forced to shut off a main road, which will be recognisable to many because of its proximity to two popular retail parks, and three men were arrested.

Those on scene will likely be the most shocked – including the drivers of the other cars involved in a crash as officers attempted to detain the offenders.

Shoppers that were evacuated from Lidl and those who saw armed police officers searching a nearby Mcdonalds must also have felt very alarmed.

These types of crimes do not happen very often in Worcester.

And that, at least, is something that we can glean some comfort from.

We are fortunate to live in a place where these scenes are rare and it is surely better to be shocked and alarmed on occasion than be

world-wearily complacent by it as a daily occurrence.

It’s comforting too that officers were able to bring the situation to a swift conclusion with no casualties.