Cumbria, England--Shooting in Whitehaven!

[3113]

No Ahers from there...right?

Taxi driver Derrick Bird shot dead a colleague in the town of Whitehaven, before driving through the countryside apparently targeting people at random.

Eleven others were injured, three critically and five seriously.

Mr Bird's body was found in a wooded area in Boot in the Lake District, where a shotgun and a rifle fitted with a telescopic sight were recovered.

Full story here.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

So sad, the quiet, timid little man who internalizes all his woes and then explodes on the community with horrific results. Almost an archetype, really.

 

[TE999]

I thought England had gun control laws. He must have picked those weapons up on the black market.

 

[Emperor_Nero]

I thought England had gun control laws. He must have picked those weapons up on the black market.

They do ... notice, he had no handguns.

Hunting weapons, such as a shotgun or a rifle, are not banned.

 

[amicus]

There is, if memory serves, a Beatles song about a man in a car...not Penny Lane, but the title escapes me for the moment...?

Ami

 

[voluptuary_manque]

The English gun laws are based on the horror of the commoners. Shotguns are almost a give-away and shotgun shells are cheaper than books. Can't have the gentry bein' unable to go shootin' now, don'tcherknow? And rifle permits aren't at all easy to get. However, when you are a timid, quiet unassuming little person whom no one would ever suspect of such a thing, being issued one is simple. Besides, he was white and you know such people would never harm a flea. Now if he had been named Aboud . . .

 

[TE999]

There is, if memory serves, a Beatles song about a man in a car...not Penny Lane, but the title escapes me for the moment...?

Ami

That was 'Day In A Life'. The line is "He blew his mind out in a car..." I think it meant he was using narcotics.

 

[amicus]

]That was 'Day In A Life'. The line is "He blew his mind out in a car..." I think it meant he was using narcotics.[/I]

~~~

Probably narcotics...dunno...but the line and the description of his meaningless life in the song....again, as I recall....is close enough for government work.

Thanks...

ami

 

[xssve]

Worked at a nuke plant - they should scan his brain for tumors.

 

[Loring2]

Good Law ???

The English gun laws are based on the horror of the commoners. Shotguns are almost a give-away and shotgun shells are cheaper than books. Can't have the gentry bein' unable to go shootin' now, don'tcherknow? And rifle permits aren't at all easy to get. However, when you are a timid, quiet unassuming little person whom no one would ever suspect of such a thing, being issued one is simple. Besides, he was white and you know such people would never harm a flea. Now if he had been named Aboud . . .

Most people can't hit the broadside of a barn with a handgun at 27 yards and they're generally not much better with a rifle but a 12 guage pump or semi-auto with #4 chill makes life easier for even the incompetant.

40 years ago my mother-in-law sent my father-in-law to his happy hunting ground with a Model 12. I understand it took 4 rounds but in her defense he was running like hell.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Oh yeah. And there's no worse sound in the dark than the 'ker-chik . . . slam!' of a slide jacking a round into the chamber. However, most scatterguns in Britain are doubles. Not that it makes a lot of difference after the second blast . . .

 

[Loring2]

What are you thinking? ...

Worked at a nuke plant - they should scan his brain for tumors.

... law suit for his widow or family? I like the way you think.

 

[oggbashan]

Feud may have sparked massacre

1 hour 38 mins ago

Police are investigating what sparked gunman Derrick Bird's killing spree amid reports he was involved in a bitter family feud.

The taxi driver ran amok in Cumbria killing 12 people and injuring 11, including colleagues and random passers-by on Wednesday.

The massacre began with the first reports of gunshots in Whitehaven at 10.30am outside a taxi rank. Bird produced two guns - believed to be a .22 rifle with telescopic sight and a shotgun - and shot fellow taxi drivers in Duke Street.

It is understood that Bird, who was later found dead in woods near the village of Boot, held a firearms licence for 20 years, police said.

Questions were being asked about why police failed to stop Bird sooner. Critics suggested the death toll could have been much lower if officers had tracked down the rampaging taxi driver more quickly.

Among the messages of condolence left on the website of local paper the Whitehaven News were angry condemnations of Cumbria Police's handling of the tragedy.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will visit the area on Friday, accompanied by Home Secretary Theresa May, and would be meeting with Cumbria Chief Constable Craig Mackey and other senior officers.

The gunman was himself the victim of an attack in 2007. Bird was left "nervous and anxious" after an assault by one of his taxi passengers three years ago. He was knocked unconscious in a row over an unpaid fare in October 2007 and no longer wanted to work nights after the assault.

A Whitehaven taxi firm owner said he believed Bird had argued with other drivers he believed were stealing his customers the night before the shootings.

The man, who used to work on the taxi rank with Bird, said: "There had been an argument on the rank which was in relation to taking people from the back of the rank, instead of sending them to the front. It was an ongoing thing. Maybe it came to a head on Tuesday night and, with any other problems Derrick had, contributed to his behaviour."