Whaley Bridge incident: man who died is named - and two further arrests

A man who died at a property in Whaley Bridge has been named.

We were called to reports of a burglary at a property in Eccles Road at around 1.20am on 1 May.

At the scene officers found a man in his late teens who had sustained fatal gunshot wounds. He is not the owner of the property. He has now been formally identified as Marcus Smith, 19, of Chapel-en-le-Frith.

His family are aware and are being supported by specialist officers.

A second man, who is in his teens, was also found with a gunshot wound nearby in the same road. He suffered serious injuries and has been taken to hospital where he remains. However, his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. 

A third man, who is in his 50s, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder and remains in police custody. Officers have been granted further time to question the man in connection with the murder.

A fourth man, who is in his 20s, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary after the vehicle he was travelling in was stopped on the A6 in the afternoon of Wednesday 1 May. He remains in police custody.

A fifth man, who is in his 30s, was arrested last night, Thursday 2 May, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary. He remains in police custody.

A sixth man, who is in his late teens, was arrested on Friday 3 May on suspicion of assisting an offender.

A scene remains in place at a house in Eccles Road and will remain in place for some time while investigations continue.

We had received reports of a burglary at the Eccles Road property on the afternoon of Tuesday 30 April, at around 3.30pm. Officers attended the scene and at this stage we are keeping an open mind as to whether the two incidents are linked.

If you have any information that can assist our investigation you can contact the incident room directly by using the following link: Public Portal (mipp.police.uk)

Alternatively you can contact us using any of the below methods, including reference 36 of 1 May:

• Website– We have crime reporting tools on our website: use our online contact form
• Facebook– send us a private message to the Derbyshire Constabulary Facebook page
• X (Twitter) – direct message our contact centre via @DerPolContact
• Phone – call us on 101 

You can also anonymously contact the independent charity CrimeStoppers, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website.