Plymouth shooting suspect Jake Davison who killed five was a ‘loner’ and had gun permit
- The 22-year-old, who killed himself after the six-minute shooting spree, was alienated from his family and hostile to women
- Mass casualty shootings are rare in Britain, where most police officers are unarmed, as southwest England is regarded as a tranquil part of the country
British police said on Friday they were investigating the background of a troubled loner who obtained a firearms licence and shot dead five people including a three-year-old girl in the southwest port city of Plymouth.
No motive has yet emerged for Thursday evening’s bloodshed at the hands of 22-year-old gunman Jake Davison, who killed himself after the six-minute spree in a quiet residential area not far from western Europe’s biggest naval base.
But Devon and Cornwall Police ruled out terrorism, including with far-right groups, and said there was a “familial relationship” with Davison’s first victim, while declining to confirm local reports that she was his mother.
After killing the woman at her house, Davison shot and killed the young girl and her male relative aged 43 on the road outside, before claiming the lives of a man and woman nearby, Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer told reporters.
Another two local residents received “significant” but not life-threatening gunshot wounds, he said.