UK taxi driver kills 12, wounds 25 in England

[Gfted1]

UK taxi driver kills 12, wounds 25 in England

 

Jun 2, 1:04 PM (ET)

 

By SCOTT HEPPELL

 

SEASCALE, England (AP) - A taxi driver went on a shooting spree across a rural area of northwestern England on Wednesday, police said, killing 12 people and wounding 25 others before turning the gun on himself.

 

The rampage in Cumbria was the deadliest mass shooting since 1996 in Britain, where gun ownership is tightly restricted and handguns are banned.

 

The deadly spree "has shocked the people of Cumbria and around the country to the core," Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said.

 

Officers found Bird's body in woods near the Lake District village of Boot. Hyde said two weapons were recovered from the scene.

 

The shootings occurred in the town of Whitehaven and nearby Seascale and Egremont, about 350 miles (560 kilometers) northwest of London. The area is popular with hikers and vacationers.

 

Health service spokesman Nigel Calvert said three of the injured were in a critical condition in the hospital.

 

Hyde said there were 30 separate crime scenes. Witnesses described seeing the gunman driving around shooting out the window of his car. His victims included a woman on a bicycle, a farmer in his field and at least two fellow taxi drivers.

 

Barrie Walker, a doctor in Seascale who certified one of the deaths, told the BBC that victims had been shot in the face, apparently with a shotgun.

 

Witness Alan Hannah told the Whitehaven News that he saw a man with a shotgun in a car near a taxi stand in Whitehaven. Photos showed a body, covered in a sheet, lying in a street in the town.

 

"This kind of thing doesn't happen in our part of the world," local lawmaker Jamie Reed told the BBC. "We have got one of the lowest, if not the lowest, crime rates in the country."

 

Multiple shootings in Britain are rare. In 1987, gun enthusiast Michael Ryan killed 16 people in the English town of Hungerford. In 1996, Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher at a kindergarten in Dunblane, Scotland.

 

Glenda Pears, who runs L&G Taxis in Whitehaven, said one of the victims was another taxi driver who was a friend of Bird's.

 

"They used to stand together having a (laugh) on the rank," she said. "He was friends with everybody and used to stand and joke on Duke Street."

 

Sue Matthews, who works at A2B Taxis in Whitehaven, said Bird was self-employed, quiet and lived alone.

 

"I would say he was fairly popular. I would see him once a week out and about. He was known as 'Birdy,'" she said.

 

"I can't believe he would do that - he was a quiet little fellow."

[Aram]

Ouch. I guess my uncle is going to be losing his shotguns pretty soon.

[Volourn]

"This kind of thing doesn't happen in our part of the world," local lawmaker Jamie Reed told the BBC. ""

 

Lying bigot. It just did. Don't be so ignorant, loser punk.

 

Anyways, tragedy like this simply sucks. Whata wack job that loser murderer is.

[Walsingham]

That's right, Volo. Happens once, happens all the time. That's why people retire from Cumbria to Rio. Less random shootings.

[Moose]

Calm down Volo, it's an expression. He means it's the last thing they expected coming into work that morning. I mean it wouldn't have taken them *6 hours* to catch the guy otherwise. This is probably the most they've had to deal with since world war 2.

[Meshugger]

Apparantly, the guy also killed his own twin brother

 

Sounds like a complete mental meltdown of catastrophic proportions. A sad day in Britain indeed.

[Morgoth]

"Daddy, what is Britain best known for?"

 

"Uhm, Fish & Chips, atrocious ale, killing sprees."

[Hiro Protagonist]

Apparantly, the guy also killed his own twin brother

 

Sounds like a complete mental meltdown of catastrophic proportions. A sad day in Britain indeed.

 

Yeah, I read about that today. Over a will no less. I assume the parents left a substantial amount to the twin brother and he went postal. Now all the family is dead. Even the family lawyer. No winners in all this.

[Monte Carlo]

"This kind of thing doesn't happen in our part of the world," local lawmaker Jamie Reed told the BBC. ""

 

Lying bigot. It just did. Don't be so ignorant, loser punk.

 

Anyways, tragedy like this simply sucks. Whata wack job that loser murderer is.

 

I don't suppose you care what a nasty little person this post makes you sound like?

[Walsingham]

Rumour is that the killer tried to book himself into a mental institution before the attack. A friend suggested that the forms for admission ought to include one additional question:

 

"Do you own any firearms?"

 

If the answer is 'yes', then the individual might be worth paying slightly more attention to.

[Moose]

I think that shows up on their medical records anyway.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I'm pleased to see the government has promised there'll be no knee-jerk changes to the gun laws, which are fine as they are. I hope they can keep this up and don't yield to a tabloid panic.

[Walsingham]

I agree with Steve. I think if theres one single lesson to learn from New Labour t's not to enact some new niche law every time something goes awry. The fact is that any system of law, no matter how 'perfect' will witness people breaking it and causing harm. The key issue here is that this guy went dolaly rather than that he owned a firearm. Or rather that both happened in conjunction.

[~Di]

It was a horrific incident. My condolences to all affected by this tragedy.

[~Di]

double post... sorry

Edited June 6, 2010 by ~Di