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The possible motive behind the shooting of 22-year-old shooter Jake Davison on Thursday has not been disclosed. The attacker, who had been furious for six minutes, then killed himself in a quiet residential area near the largest naval base in Western Europe.
But Devon and Cornwall police have rejected one version of terrorism, even fueled by far-right ideology. Authorities said Davison had “family ties” to the first victim, but declined to confirm local media reports that she was his mother.
After killing the woman in her home, Davison went out and shot the three-year-old girl and her relative on the side of the road, then killed the man and woman next to him, the head of Police Shaun Sawyer.
According to him, two more neighbors have suffered “serious” gunshot wounds, but their lives are not in danger.
Sh. Sawyer added that by 2020, Davison had a valid firearms license.
Local and national leaders said they were overwhelmed and upset.
But as questions arose about the suspect’s past and the police response after the disaster, Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked emergency services.
“I am thinking of the friends and family of the victims, as well as all those affected by this tragic incident in Plymouth last night,” he wrote on Twitter.
Strict gun control laws
After Davison’s murder, the only weapon was found at the scene, but the police chief was unable to confirm eyewitness reports that a bomb-action rifle had also been used during the massacre.
Britain has almost the strictest gun control laws in the West, and British police generally do not carry guns.
The private use of pistols was banned in almost all cases after the worst mass shootings in British history, the 1996 massacre at the Dunblane School in Scotland. At that time, 16 young students and their teacher died.
However, the purchase of sporting weapons and shotguns is allowed, subject to strict licensing.
Licenses are valid for five years and should be issued only after a thorough biographical evaluation by the police, including a verification of possible mental illness.
The last mass shooting in Britain took place in June 2010; then driver Derrick Bird killed 12 people in Cumbria, northern England.
Spins „YouTube“
According to public information on Davison’s social media channels, he was interested in guns, the ideology of right-wing libertarians, and computer “shooters.”
The content posted by the young man suggests that he felt sorry for himself alone, did not maintain close ties with his family and was hostile to women.
On his Facebook profile, Davison said he was from Phoenix, Arizona, but local media did not confirm the information.
In the jobs column, he listed Babcock International, a UK engineering services company active in the sea docks of Plymouth and other cities across the country.
He is reportedly interning as a dock crane operator and worked as a scaffolding installer as a teenager.
YouTube deleted the content it uploaded on Friday morning. That footage was mostly seen while lifting weights in a makeshift gym at his home.
In a video message to the camera, Davison, speaking in a bright accent typical of western Britain, saw a tirade from women using vocabulary that was intolerant of them. In his last post, uploaded on July 28, he said that he felt “defeated” in life.
The latest YouTube video, which you “liked” this week, shows a volley of shots being fired from a WWII rifle.
At the time, Shawyer defended the police response, claiming that the responding armed forces quickly arrived at the scene, although they were unable to prevent Davison from committing suicide.
“We believe it was an incident that involved personal matters, but it also spilled onto the streets,” Sh. Sawyer added that police are investigating Davison’s activities on social media, his hard drives and information about family life.
The police chief could not confirm whether the license granted to the attacker was valid for the weapon used on Thursday.
He said an “independent verification” would be carried out to determine how the document was issued to Davison and if he had any mental health problems.
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