Last night, five people were killed in a shooting in Plymouth by a man named-locally as Jake Davison. After murdering two males and three females, one of whom was a ‘very young girl’ according to police, he went on to kill himself.
Police held a press conference in response to the shooting this morning, where they confirmed the gunman’s name and described his weapon as a ‘pump action shotgun’ which was recovered from the scene. They said the shootings all happened within six minutes.
Davison is believed to have murdered a woman at a property before exiting and entering Biddick Drive where he killed a ‘very young girl’ and male relative of hers, according to police. He went on to shoot two local residents who were injured – their injuries are not said to be life-threatening – and then moved on to an adjacent park where he killed one man. The 23-year-old then walked to Henderson Place, a nearby road, where he shot a woman who later died in hospital.
Now, police are urging people on social media not to share videos of the shooting as it is both irresponsible and disrespectful to the families now grieving.
‘One of the biggest things the police have been doing throughout the night is contacting the families of the victims this morning from such a tragedy, making sure the families are first to know,’ Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez told BBC Radio 4 this morning.
‘I think what we would really like people to do is not be sharing those images this morning,’ she continued. ‘Hold on to them, there will be more requests from the police later if required, but please don't share them. It's absolutely tragic, if you can imagine that you lost a family member in the street, unexpectedly in such a horrific way, we really do need to manage what’s going on in terms of lives and loss.’
What we could do with is the support of our friends around the country at this time.
The MP for Plymouth Moor View, Johnny Mercer, has said ‘action’ will be taken against people sharing images of the shooting online, stating ‘They have clearly been asked not to. I am not sure what the legal ramifications are but it’s certainly something that I will help the police and do whatever we can to make sure that that sort of behaviour is held to account.’
Plymouth MP Luke Pollard also plead with social media users to think of the families and community affected before posting anything online.
‘Please can I ask that you think of the families and our community and not share any images or videos of any of the victims. What we could do with is the support of our friends around the country at this time, treating the victims and their families with as much respect as possible and not sharing images on social media.’
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