SyndicationJun/03/2010
Family dispute theory over Cumbria rampage
Investigations into what made a taxi driver embark on a rampage which left 12 people dead in Cumbria may centre on a family row, reports suggest.
Derrick Bird, 52, went on a shooting spree that began near Whitehaven and ended when he shot himself.
It is being reported he may have been involved in a dispute over a will, and police have confirmed solicitor Kevin Commons is among the dead.
Eleven people were injured as he drove around shooting indiscriminately.
Three of those are still critically ill, five are seriously hurt and the remaining three have been released from hospital.
Bird is understood to have been a licensed firearms holder for 20 years.
Cumbria Police's Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde said: "He had a shotgun certificate and a firearms licence for weapons but we do not know at this stage whether the weapons that we recovered are those he was licensed for.
"A detailed ballistic examination is being undertaken to confirm this."
Two weapons have been seized by police and are being examined by forensic experts. These are a shotgun and a .22 rifle fitted with a telescopic sight.
The Cumbria force are now involved in what is likely to be their biggest ever investigation, which includes 30 crime scenes.
Officers are following up more than 1,400 calls from people including witnesses and concerned friends and relatives.
One of the key questions is what might have triggered Mr Bird's actions.
A possible theory is that he had been involved in a dispute with his family over a will, other reports suggest he had fallen out with fellow taxi drivers after he believed they had taken work from him.
A friend reported a brief conversation he had with the taxi driver the night before Wednesday's massacre, which ended with Mr Bird warning: "You won't see me again."
The following day Mr Bird is believed to have left his home in the village of Rowrah and began the carnage by shooting dead his twin brother David and the family's solicitor.
Mr Commons, aged 60, worked at KJ Commons solicitors which had offices across the region.
He was found in the driveway of his house on Frizington Road, Frizington.
Next, Bird drove seven miles to Whitehaven where he shot dead taxi driver colleague Darren Rewcastle before heading through villages and countryside in west Cumbria, apparently choosing his targets at random.
'Telescopic sight'
Four other victims have been named locally as Garry Purdham, Kenneth Fishburn, Jane Robinson and Michael Pike.
Mr Purdham was a farmer's son from Gosforth and is believed to have had two young children. He was trimming a hedge when he came under fire.
Mr Fishburn, from Egremont, is understood to have been a retired security worker at the nearby Sellafield nuclear site.
Ms Robinson, aged in her 70s, is believed to have been delivering homeware catalogues in Seascale when she was struck. Mr Pike was cycling in the same village.
Other victims are reported to include another taxi driver aged in his 40s and a man in his 60s. It is also believed the two victims in the village of Wilton were a husband and wife and a woman in her 50s was gunned down in Egremont.
Before he was found dead in Boot - shortly after crashing his car near the River Esk - his rampage had spanned about 25 miles.
Don Reed was one of the first people Mr Bird opened fire on in Whitehaven - but luckily he survived with a wound to his back.
Mr Reed, a taxi driver who knew Mr Bird, said: "I looked up and I saw Derrick Bird's taxi pull up at the back end of the taxi rank.
"The next thing was he shouted Darren Rewcastle and he walked in the middle of the road, and then he just opened up with a single-barrelled shotgun with a telescopic sight on it.
"He then drove up by me and just pointed it at me, and I just took a flying dive and he caught me in the back. I went on the floor and then I crawled along the taxi rank.
"I was going to apply first aid to Darren, but when I saw Darren, he was gone.
"I crawled round and Derrick Bird was walking towards me with this shotgun."
Mr Reed crawled near the taxi rank and opened all the car doors to get some protection from the shotgun blasts.
'Turned into a killer'
However, when a friend shouted at Mr Bird, the taxi driver got back in his vehicle and drove off - shooting another man in the face as he left.
Mr Hyde said more than 100 officers were involved in the investigation.
He said: "We are still at a very early stage in our investigation and we are not able to really understand the motivation behind it - or establish whether this was a premeditated or random attack.
"We are working hard to support the families of those involved and our focus is now on gathering as much evidence as possible to build up a clear picture of what happened this morning.
"We want to clearly understand his possession of these weapons, what happened, what went wrong and why he decided to use these to shoot people.
"What we want to do is ensure we understand what has happened, speak to people about him, his life, what has gone on in the last few days, what might have turned somebody into a killer."