LAST UPDATE | 13 Aug 2021
A GUNMAN KILLED five people including a three-year-old girl before turning the weapon on himself in a mass shooting that lasted less than 10 minutes, police in England have confirmed.
Jake Davison, 22, shot and killed a 51-year-old woman at a house in Biddick Drive in the Keyham area of Plymouth, Devon, yesterday evening before going outside and “immediately” shooting dead the girl and her male relative, aged 43.
He moved along Biddick Drive, where he aimed and shot at two local residents – a man aged 33 and a 53-year-old woman – who received significant injuries that are not currently believed to be life-threatening.
Davison then entered a nearby park, where he killed a man, aged 59, before shooting a woman, aged 66, on Henderson Place.
Eye-witnesses have told police how Davison then turned the gun on himself.
In a press conference in Plymouth today, Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer of Devon and Cornwall Police said the force received “multiple” calls about the incident at 6.11pm.
Armed and unarmed officers arrived at the scene within six minutes and discovered Davison’s body a short time later, with this logged by police at 6.23pm.
Sawyer told reporters that it is believed the first female victim and Davison were “known” to each other, and there was a view there was a familial relationship.
He added that he did not yet know of any formal relationship between Davison and the other victims. No motive has yet been identified for the attacks.
Sawyer described the shootings as “truly shocking” and said they had been witnessed by members of the public, who he urged to seek support.
“We believe we have an incident that is domestically related, that has spilled into the street and seen several people in Plymouth losing their lives in extraordinarily tragic circumstances,” he said.
A weapon – described by witnesses as a pump-action shotgun – was recovered from the scene.
Sawyer confirmed that Davison had held a firearms licence since at least 2020 but it was not yet known whether that firearm was used during the incident.
“Multiple shots have been fired from a firearm during that six-minute or so period,” Sawyer told reporters.
“There are some 13 scenes and potentially more scenes.
“There are therefore five people of Plymouth who have lost their lives overnight – and Davison himself – including a particularly young child.”
He said the identities of the victims would be made public and said officers were working with their families, who he described as being “throughout the UK”.
Gunman
Detectives are examining Davison’s social media output as part of their investigation, Sawyer confirmed.
The killer appeared to post on a YouTube account under the name Professor Waffle just weeks before the massacre about how he was “beaten down” and “defeated by life”.
His channel was subscribed to gun-related accounts and another named Incel TV, which features content related to “involuntary celibacy”, although in one of his videos Davison said he “wouldn’t clarify myself as an incel”.
The online subculture involves men who express hostility and extreme resentment towards those who are sexually active, particularly women.
In another clip, he discusses missing out on a teenage romance and refers to “Chads”, an incel community term for good-looking men who attract women.
And in another video, Davison says: “I know it’s a movie but I like to think sometimes I’m the Terminator or something. Despite reaching almost total system failure he keeps trying to accomplish his mission.”
Sawyer said he could not say “at this time” whether Davison had mental health issues, but added: “This is an extraordinarily unusual response by a fellow human being.”
“We are not considering terrorism or a relationship with any far-right group,” he confirmed.
Officers are working with the Metropolitan Police to investigate what happened.
Sawyer told reporters that witnesses were “shocked at what was unfolding before them” and there was no evidence to suggest Davison was saying anything as he carried out the atrocity.
The chief constable urged people not to contact police unless it was “truly an emergency” as the force was “very, very busy”.
Today, forensic officers in protective clothing could be seen conducting fingertip searches at the scene, while a coroner’s ambulance was filmed leaving the area.
A large yellow tent was set up in the area, with several uniformed officers posted around the cordon.
Sawyer confirmed that it took “several hours” before police were able to tell residents that the incident had concluded last night.
“We were searching to see whether this was a lone individual, whether there were other individuals,” he told reporters.
“This was a very fast, developing scene.”
He told how members of the public were evacuated “primarily to ensure that there were not other persons who had been shot, injured or killed in the neighbouring premises”.
The incident is the first mass shooting in Britain since June 2010, when taxi driver Derrick Bird killed 12 people and injured 11 others in Cumbria.
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