Stuart Highway shot
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Stuart Highway shot in EastEnders: Who is the mystery assailant?

He has quite a long list of enemies...

After months of terrorising Walford, Stuart Highway has been stopped in his tracks (well, temporarily at least) by a single bullet.

In dramatic scenes that aired on Monday and Tuesday (3 and 4 September), East End menace Stuart was shot in the abdomen and left bleeding to death by a secret assailant.

The attempted murder took place in The Queen Vic, where Stuart lay in wait for the Carters in a bid to exact revenge on them.

Carter family in EastEnders
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe… who shot Stuart Highway? (Credit: BBC)

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However, it was the self-appointed paedophile hunter and childhood ‘friend’ of Mick Carter who ended up on the floor fighting for his life.

But who shot him? And why didn’t they do a better job of finishing him off?!

After the police were called, some fans were quick to assume that Linda Carter was the shooter after she was seen wiping a gun clean and throwing it in the canal.

But other fans have different theories. Here are the list of prime suspects who have motive to shoot Stuart…

Linda Carter shot Stuart Highway?
Did Linda Carter shoot Stuart Highway? (Credit: BBC)

Linda Carter

Matriarch Linda has made no secret of the fact that she’s disliked Stuart from the start, even before his truly awful behaviour was revealed. And everyone knows she’ll do anything for her family. Did she shoot Stuart to get rid of him once and for all from her husband’s life?

It’s possible, but many fans believe Linda is too obvious and would solve the crime too quickly. More likely that she disposed of the gun to protect someone else…?

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Mick Carter

Mick has more motive than most. After all, this is his childhood friend who has duped and lied to him all these years. He’s also terrorised his auntie Tina, and stalked his wife Linda.

Mick has a high sense of moral duty, and a notorious temper. However, he could have suffocated Stuart while he lay on the ground after being shot, but he stopped himself. Why would he do this if he’d been responsible for shooting him in the first place?

And surely Mick would have been a better aim, shooting at the heart rather than his guts?!

Shirley Carter

Like Linda, she’ll do anything for her family and she’s not to be messed with.

She was apparently ‘out having a fag’ at the time of the shooting, but we all know she’s got form where guns are concerned!

We reckon Shirley would have finished the job, though, and probably with her bare hands!

Tina Carter

Stuart has dragged Tina to hell and back (Credit: BBC)

Tina has very good reasons for wanting Stuart dead after a flashback revealed he’d been behind a horrific ordeal she’d endured while she was younger.

She was acting very suspiciously in the aftermath of the shooting and seemed to have delayed calling the emergency services to get help for Stuart as he lay bleeding to death on the floor.

Could she have finally snapped?

Halfway

This is a long shot, as loyal Halfway has stood by his brother throughout. But this is EastEnders we’re discussing, and anything is possible!

Halfway has been left devastated by the actions of his older brother, especially after Stuart tried to poison his mind against girlfriend Whitney.

He was seen crying when he discovered his bro’s lifeless body in the basement, but were they tears of guilt? Having been in the army, he would certainly know how to use a gun, too.

Halfway hugs Stuart after shooting
Halfway sobbed over the bleeding body of his big bro (Credit: BBC)

Whitney

While Whitney possibly has the weakest motive, she could have been driven to shoot Stuart in an attempt to rid her boyfriend Halfway of her psycho brother once and for all.

While she did and said all the right things to help him afterwards, she was also seen deleting Halfway’s messages to Stuart – what was she hiding?

Dylan

A prime suspect for us, Dylan was also a victim of Stuart’s bullying and nightmarish pranks.

Dylan had reported Stuart to the police for a similar stunt to Tina’s, but later retracted the statement accusing Stuart of intimidating him.

But is he who he says he is?

Although he was staying at the pub on the fateful night, he was NOT seen in the aftermath of the shooting. And what was in the bag he was guarding to ‘help him sleep’?

Stuart

Another big contender for shooter is Stuart himself. Could he have shoot himself – or paid someone else to – to be able to later lay the blame on one of the Carter family? This would also explain why the wound wasn’t fatal.

It would be typical of one of Stuart’s sadistic games… But, if it’s one of Stuart’s sick moves, has Linda set herself up by getting rid of the gun?

Dennis Rickman

Some fans think Sharon’s son is to blame, after his previous ‘odd jobs’ for Stuart.

He’s previously done Stuart’s dirty work, having been paid by the thug to steal the keys from the Queen Vic, amongst other things.

One fan predicted: “You heard it here first – Dennis shot Stuart #Eastenders.”

All we do know for certain is that EastEnders intends to play out this attempted-murder mystery until well into the autumn.

Inside Soap recently revealed: “Fans at home won’t know at first who pulled the trigger, so they’ll be on the edge of their seats as they wait to learn who did it.

“There are so many questions… Not only of who did the deed, but also the matter of whether the bullet was even meant for the person who took it.”

One thing is for sure, there are a lot of guilty-looking faces in Albert Square at the moment…

Who do YOU think shot Stuart Highway? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!


Helen Fear
TV Editor

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