The gunman responsible for Britain’s deadliest mass shooting in a decade killed all five victims in eight minutes before committing suicide using his penultimate shotgun cartridge.
Jake Davison, 22, shot and killed four people, including a young child, after killing his mother, Maxine, 51, in the port city of Plymouth on August 12, 2021.
The entire incident took just 16 minutes, and an inquest was held on Wednesday.
The victims were Sophie Martin (3), her father Lee Martin (43), Stephen Washington (59) and Kate Shepard (66).
It was Britain’s deadliest mass shooting since 52-year-old Derrick Byrd shot dead 12 people in and around Whitehaven, Cumbria, in June 2010.
Bird and Davison legally owned shotguns.
Davison received a five-year firearms license in January 2018, but had his license suspended and his gun confiscated after he assaulted two teenagers at a park in 2020.
Davison’s shotgun and gun license were returned by the Devon and Cornwall police a few weeks before the murder.
Mass shooting following 999 call from victim’s sister
On Wednesday, jurors heard Maxine Davison’s sister Marlene Hill calling 999 the night of the shooting.
However, at the inquest, it was heard that Davison had already been killed by the time of 999’s call.
The inquest was then shown a CCTV montage, along with a map describing Davison’s route on that fateful night.
After killing his mother, he left his home on Vidick Drive and quickly shot and killed Martin and his daughter, who had just returned from walking their dogs in a nearby linear park on a warm summer’s evening.
Davison then drove through the linear park and shot Washington dead. Another passerby spotted him in the distance and quickly fled.
The killer then crossed Royal Navy Avenue and shot Shepard dead as he was returning home from grocery shopping at the local Riddle Supermarket.
The montage ended just before Davison committed suicide behind the Blush Hair Salon where police and paramedics were trying to save Shepard’s life.
Rebecca Martin said at the inquest that she was pushing a “scuffy” purple buggy with a teddy bear in it when her daughter was killed.
Martin said, “From previous walk knowledge, she would have had to push the buggy for a while before giving up and one of us carrying it home.
Since the incident, it has been revealed that Davison was obsessed with the incel (involuntary celibacy) culture and obsessed with guns and the United States in general.
Plymouth MP Takes on Incel Content Online
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Labor MP Luke Pollard told Parliament on Tuesday night that more needs to be done to address incel platforms on the internet.
Pollard said the online safety bill hasn’t gone far enough, adding:
“In particular, we would like to see minimum standards applied to large and small platforms at risk to ensure that minimum standards include recognition of in-cell content,” he added.
Pollard said: And we were taught to think of ourselves as brothers in arms in the war against women. ”
“Because this bill does not remove in-cell content online, it will not prevent future tragedies,” Pollard added.
The inquest began on Tuesday when the shooter’s brother, Josh Davison, said he was “working to understand and manage our own health, emotions and bereavement following the incident.”
“Deeper than that, we know that our family members are responsible for the loss of Martin, Washington and Shepard’s families, and we share their feelings of despair, hurt and loss. I think that there.”
They added: An incident like this will never happen again and should never happen. ”
In September 2021, Tim Jack, deputy senior national coordinator of the UK’s counter-terrorism police, said Mr Davison’s attacks were not motivated by incel culture.
Jack said, “Incel itself is not a terrorist ideology. You become a terrorist when your actions go beyond the limits. The attacks in Plymouth were not ideologically motivated, but the individual Engaged in some kind of incel thinking. But that doesn’t make him a terrorist.”
The inquest, which is taking place at Exeter Racecourse, is expected to last five weeks.
In England, Thomas Hamilton committed suicide after handguns were banned under laws introduced after the 1996 Dunblane massacre in which 16 schoolchildren and their teachers were shot dead in a Scottish town.
However, shotguns and sporting rifles are legal to own as long as you have a firearms license issued by your local police.
Chris Summers is a UK-based journalist with a wide range of national coverage, with a particular interest in crime, police and law.