IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

5 killed in Plymouth, England, mass shooting; gunman also dead, police say

Devon & Cornwall Police said in a statement that they responded to "a serious firearms incident" with multiple casualties.
Get more newsLiveon

A mass shooting in southwest England on Thursday evening killed five people, police said, and the gunman is also dead.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Shaun Sawyer, chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, said authorities responded within six minutes after a flurry of calls shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday.

Jake Davison, 22, had fatally shot a child and four adults before turning the gun on himself, Sawyer said.

"This was a truly shocking event and was witnessed by members of the public," Sawyer said.

He added: "There is no motive, as we know at present. Again, that will be subject to inquiry, but we are at the moment not considering terrorism or relationship with any far right group or any such other group. But clearly, he is on social media and that would be part of the investigation."

Sky News reported that Davison's first victim was his mother, Maxine Davison.

Plymouth is a city of over 200,000 people on the southwest coast of England.

In a tweet, Johnny Mercer, a member of Parliament from that area, said Friday he was thinking about the people who witnessed the public violence.

"It is totally normal to be traumatized or upset by whatever you may have seen yesterday, and I want you to know: there is help out there in Plymouth," he wrote.

Luke Pollard, another member of Parliament from Plymouth, said the incident was "unspeakably awful."

"The questions about why and how this happened are valid questions," Pollard wrote, "but we wont have all the answers just yet."

The BBC reported it was the worst mass shooting in the UK since 2010.