Cumbria Gunman Kills 12, Injures 25
A taxi driver, 52-year-old Derrick Bird, killed 12 and wounded 25 on Wednesday in Cumbria during a 3 hour shooting spree. This was the deadliest mass shooting since 1996.
The shooting spree occurred just 350 miles northwest of London in a popular area among holidaymakers and hikers. Nigel Calvert, the Health service spokesman, said that 3 of the 25 injured were in critical condition at the hospital.
Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde says that people in Cumbria and around the nation have been shocked to the core. There were 30 different crime scenes, he continued, as Bird had continued shooting from his vehicle while driving around. Some of the victims included a farmer in his field, a woman on a bicycle and 2 fellow taxi drivers.
L&G Taxis boss Glenda Pears says that one of the victims was one of Bird’s friends and a fellow taxi driver. She added that he was friends with everyone and use to stand and joke around. A2B Taxis worker Sue Matthews says that Bird was self-employed, lived alone and was quiet. He was popular and known as Birdy, she continued, adding that she can’t believe he did this.
According to Doctor Barrie Walker, the victims were shot in the face with a shotgun. A witness says that he saw a man with a shotgun in a car close to a taxi stand in Whitehaven. Later they found Bird’s body in the woods, and it’s thought he killed himself after the shootings. Hyde said that they found 2 weapons at the scene.
Multiple shootings are rare in Britain. Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford in 1987, while Thomas Hamilton killed 16 kindergarten pupils and a teacher in Dunblane in 1996.