LONDON — A 22-year-old man who shot and killed five people in Plymouth before turning the weapon on himself had a gun license, police in southwest England said Friday, but they have so far ruled out any connection to terrorism or far right groups.
Police identified the shooter as Jake Davison but revealed few other details. Witnesses reported that he used a pump-action shotgun in his rampage Thursday night, police said, though they wouldn’t confirm what type of weapon it was and whether it was the one Davison was licensed to use.
Gun crimes are rare in Britain, where there are strict firearm control rules. The country’s last mass shooting was more than a decade ago.
Shaun Sawyer, chief constable for Devon and Cornwall police, told reporters that officers responding to multiple emergency calls at 6:11 p.m. arrived six minutes later at an address in Plymouth’s Keyham neighborhood, where Davison had shot and killed a woman who lived there. Police are investigating whether Davison and the victim were related, he said.
Davison then left the house and immediately shot and killed a “very young girl” and her male relative who were outside, then shot and wounded two other people farther along the street. He went to a park where he shot a man who died at the scene, then shot a woman on a nearby street who died later in the hospital, Sawyer said.
A 3-year-old girl was among the victims, according to reporter Chris Chambers.
The other victims ranged in age from 33 to 51, Chambers reported.
Davison shot himself before police arrived.
Sawyer said investigators are not sure what his motive was, but they are not considering terrorism or any links to far right groups, though they’re keeping an open mind.
“Let’s see what’s on his hard drive, let’s see what’s on his computer, let’s see what’s on social media,” Sawyer told reporters.
“We believe we have an incident that is domestically related that has spilled into the street and seen several people of Plymouth lose their lives in an extraordinarily tragic circumstance.”
Davison was licensed to use a gun last year, but Sawyer said police are checking whether he had the license before then.
Britain’s last mass shooting was in 2010, when a taxi driver killed 12 people in Cumbria in northwest England before taking his own life.
Rich Barak of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.
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