Cumbria shootings

Along with the 1987 Hungerford massacre and the 1996 Dunblane school massacre, it is one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in British history.

The shootings ended when Bird killed himself in a wooded area after abandoning his car in the village of Boot.

The shootings began in mid-morning in Lamplugh and moved to Frizington, Whitehaven, Egremont, Gosforth, and Seascale, sparking a major manhunt by the Cumbria Constabulary, with assistance from Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers.

Thirty crime scenes across Copeland were investigated.

Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to the victims, and the Prince of Wales later visited Whitehaven in the wake of the tragedy.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May also visited West Cumbria.

A memorial fund was set up to aid victims and affected communities.

The Cumbria shootings were a shooting spree that occurred on 2 June 2010 when a lone gunman, taxi driver Derrick Bird, killed twelve people (including his twin brother) and injured eleven others in Cumbria, England, United Kingdom.

In the early hours of Wednesday, 2 June 2010, Derrick Bird left his home in Rowrah, Cumbria, drove his Citroën Xsara Picasso to his twin brother David's home in Lamplugh, and shot him eleven times in the head and body with a .22 calibre rifle, killing him.

Bird then drove to Frizington, arriving at the home of his family's solicitor, Kevin Commons.

Bird prevented Commons from driving away by firing twice with a double-barrelled shotgun – which he had earlier sawn off (the barrel and a saw being later found at his home) – hitting him once in the shoulder.

Commons staggered out of his car and onto the entrance to his farmyard, where Bird killed him with two rifle shots to the head.

Bird then moved on towards Whitehaven.

A witness called the Cumbria Constabulary to report the Commons shooting, although her call was delayed by several minutes after she asked neighbours what she should do.

She also erroneously described Bird as being armed with an air rifle despite being able to hear the gunshots.

After killing Commons, Bird went to a friend's residence to retrieve a shotgun he had loaned, although he was answered by the friend's wife, who didn't have access to it.

Afterwards, at 10:33, Bird drove to a taxi rank on Duke Street, Whitehaven.

There, he called over Darren Rewcastle, another taxi driver who was previously known to Bird; Bird had conflicts with Rewcastle over his behaviour, his practice of poaching fares, and an incident wherein Rewcastle damaged the tyres on Bird's taxi and openly boasted about it.

When Rewcastle approached Bird's taxi, he was shot twice at point-blank range with the rifle, hitting him in the lower face, chest, and abdomen.

Rewcastle died of his injuries, becoming the only person to die in Whitehaven during the attacks.

After shooting Rewcastle, a fellow taxi driver Richard Webster shouted at Bird who then sped off.

Soon after killing Rewcastle, Bird drove alongside another taxi driver, Donald Reid, and shot him in the back, wounding him.

Bird then made a loop back to the taxi rank and fired twice at Reid as he waited for emergency personnel, missing him.

Next, Bird drove away from the taxi rank and stopped alongside another taxi driver named Paul Wilson as he walked down Scotch Street, and called him over to his vehicle as he did with Rewcastle; when Wilson answered his call, Bird shot him in the right side of his face with the sawn-off shotgun, severely wounding him.

As a result of the shootings, unarmed officers at the local police station were informed and began following Bird's taxi as it drove onto Coach Road.

There, Bird fired his shotgun at a passing taxi, injuring the male driver, Terry Kennedy, and the female passenger, Emma Percival.

Bird was then able to flee the officers after he aimed his shotgun at two of them, forcing them to take cover.

However, he did not fire; he instead took advantage of the officers' distraction to escape.

In the wake of the Whitehaven shootings, residents there and in the neighbouring towns of Egremont and Seascale were urged to stay indoors.

A massive manhunt for Bird was launched by the Cumbria Constabulary, which was assisted by Civil Nuclear Constabulary officers.

Bird proceeded to drive through several local towns, firing apparently at random, and calling a majority of the victims over to his taxi before shooting them.

Because of the first call which was mistakenly reported to be an "air-rifle", the response from Cumbria Constabulary was severely delayed.

After following Bird, police vehicles and a member of the public's van (who an officer had gotten into with the driver) gave chase to Bird but unfortunately they met a forked road and took the wrong direction therefore losing him.

Near Egremont, Bird tried to shoot Jacqueline Williamson as she walked her dog, but she managed to escape without injury.

Upon arriving in Egremont, he stopped alongside Susan Hughes as she walked home from shopping, and shot her in the chest and abdomen with the shotgun.

He then got out of his taxi and got into a struggle with Hughes before fatally shooting her in the back of the head with his rifle.

Then, after driving a short distance to Bridge End, Bird fired the shotgun at Kenneth Fishburn as he walked in the opposite direction; Fishburn suffered fatal wounds to the head and chest.

This was followed by the shooting of Leslie Hunter, who was called over to Bird's taxi before being shot in the face at close range with the shotgun, then a second time in the back after he turned away to protect himself.

Hunter survived his injuries.

Bird then went south towards Thornhill, where he fired his shotgun at Ashley Glaister, a teenage girl; however, he missed her and she ran off back towards her sister's home.