Whitehaven (UK):
British police say a taxi driver went on a shooting spree across rural northwestern England, killing 12 people and wounding 25 others before turning the gun on himself.
The rampage in the county of Cumbria is Britain's deadliest mass shooting since 1996 and shocked a country where gun ownership is tightly restricted.
Police Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde says the rampage "has shocked the people of Cumbria and around the country to the core."
Officers found the body of 52-year-old suspect Derrick Bird in woods near the Lake District village of Boot. A gun was found alongside the body. (Read: I won't see you again, British gunman said before rampage)
The shootings took place on Wednesday in the town of Whitehaven and nearby Seascale and Egremont, about 350 miles (560 kilometres) northwest of London.
The BBC reported there had been shootings in 11 locations, not all of them fatal. Witnesses described seeing the gunman driving around shooting out the window of his car.
His victims included a woman on a bicycle, a farmer in his field and at least two fellow taxi drivers.
His twin brother was found dead at home and the family's solicitor, Kevin J. Commons, was also said to have been killed.
Peter Ledder, a friend of Derrick Bird told The Times, "I came into work in the morning and heard what was happening. He must have had it pre-planned."
Bird had told him at midnight Tuesday, "I won't see you again."
Spoken of as a quiet and unassuming man, Bird on Wednesday within a few hours killed friends, colleagues and complete strangers.
Barrie Walker, a doctor in Seascale who certified one of the deaths, told the BBC that victims had been shot in the face, apparently with a shotgun.
Witness Alan Hannah told the Whitehaven News that he saw a man with a shotgun in a car near a taxi stand in Whitehaven. Photos showed a body, covered in a sheet, lying in a street in the town.
Local lawmaker Jamie Reed said people in the area - popular with hikers and vacationers - were in shock.
"This kind of thing doesn't happen in our part of the world," he told the BBC. "We have got one of the lowest, if not the lowest, crime rates in the country."
Deadly shootings are rare in Britain, where gun ownership is tightly restricted and handguns are banned.
In 1987, gun enthusiast Michael Ryan killed 16 people in the English town of Hungerford. In 1996, Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher at a kindergarten in Dunblane, Scotland.
Glenda Pears, who runs L&G Taxis in Whitehaven. said one of the victims was another taxi driver who was a friend of Bird's.
"They used to stand together having a (laugh) on the rank," she said. "He was friends with everybody and used to stand and joke on Duke Street."
Sue Matthews, who works at A2B Taxis in Whitehaven, said Bird was self-employed, quiet and lived alone.
"I would say he was fairly popular. I would see him once a week out and about. He was known as 'Birdy,'" she said.
"I can't believe he would do that - he was a quiet little fellow."
The rampage in the county of Cumbria is Britain's deadliest mass shooting since 1996 and shocked a country where gun ownership is tightly restricted.
Police Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde says the rampage "has shocked the people of Cumbria and around the country to the core."
Officers found the body of 52-year-old suspect Derrick Bird in woods near the Lake District village of Boot. A gun was found alongside the body. (Read: I won't see you again, British gunman said before rampage)
The shootings took place on Wednesday in the town of Whitehaven and nearby Seascale and Egremont, about 350 miles (560 kilometres) northwest of London.
The BBC reported there had been shootings in 11 locations, not all of them fatal. Witnesses described seeing the gunman driving around shooting out the window of his car.
His victims included a woman on a bicycle, a farmer in his field and at least two fellow taxi drivers.
His twin brother was found dead at home and the family's solicitor, Kevin J. Commons, was also said to have been killed.
Peter Ledder, a friend of Derrick Bird told The Times, "I came into work in the morning and heard what was happening. He must have had it pre-planned."
Bird had told him at midnight Tuesday, "I won't see you again."
Spoken of as a quiet and unassuming man, Bird on Wednesday within a few hours killed friends, colleagues and complete strangers.
Barrie Walker, a doctor in Seascale who certified one of the deaths, told the BBC that victims had been shot in the face, apparently with a shotgun.
Witness Alan Hannah told the Whitehaven News that he saw a man with a shotgun in a car near a taxi stand in Whitehaven. Photos showed a body, covered in a sheet, lying in a street in the town.
Local lawmaker Jamie Reed said people in the area - popular with hikers and vacationers - were in shock.
"This kind of thing doesn't happen in our part of the world," he told the BBC. "We have got one of the lowest, if not the lowest, crime rates in the country."
Deadly shootings are rare in Britain, where gun ownership is tightly restricted and handguns are banned.
In 1987, gun enthusiast Michael Ryan killed 16 people in the English town of Hungerford. In 1996, Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher at a kindergarten in Dunblane, Scotland.
Glenda Pears, who runs L&G Taxis in Whitehaven. said one of the victims was another taxi driver who was a friend of Bird's.
"They used to stand together having a (laugh) on the rank," she said. "He was friends with everybody and used to stand and joke on Duke Street."
Sue Matthews, who works at A2B Taxis in Whitehaven, said Bird was self-employed, quiet and lived alone.
"I would say he was fairly popular. I would see him once a week out and about. He was known as 'Birdy,'" she said.
"I can't believe he would do that - he was a quiet little fellow."
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