Taxi driver and son among three killed in 'execution'

Three men have been "executed" with gunshots to the head and two women seriously injured in what police described as a "targeted" attack.

Two of the men who were killed in the attack at a house in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday night were named locally as the 52-year-old taxi driver Keith Cowell and his 17-year-old son, Matt. The other male victim is thought to be 33. According to neighbours, one of the two wounded women is Charlotte Cowell, Keith Cowell's 23-year-old daughter. A three-year-old girl, called Courtney, who is the daughter of Matt's girlfriend, survived the attack.

Detectives from Hertfordshire Police said they were looking for two men of Asian appearance, in their late teens or early 20s and of slim to medium build. They were seen driving in a small red car from near the scene of the shooting, at Plaw Hatch Close, towards the M11.

Charlotte Cowell is said to have been a member of the UK Youth Parliament who had met the then prime minister, Tony Blair. She had been active as a member of Buntingford youth council, in Hertfordshire, after reading English at London University.

Ms Cowell and the other female victim, who is 54, are now under armed police guard at a hospital.

Mr Cowell's nephew, Roy Hinson, who was laying flowers outside the family house, said: "Keith was a great guy and so was Matt." Asked about the 33-year-old victim, he shrugged and said: "That's a mystery."

Chris Simmons, a family friend, said: "It must have been over some pathetic grudge that someone has taken too far. I heard there were grudges against Keith from his early days."

Neighbours described hearing a series of "bangs" at about 9.30pm on Tuesday before a car sped out of the street. Lynne Walford, 42, heard tyres screeching, "then lots of police and ambulances turned up. I saw a policeman carrying this little girl wrapped in a coat. The girl seemed calm. The poor little thing, I just hope she didn't see any of it. What an awful thing for a child to have to go through."

Richard Guy, 19, said: "At about 9.30 or 9.45 last night, me and my dad heard a crash or a bang and a car reversed away quickly and sped out. I don't know if it was a shot bang or a car bang. I thought nothing of it, but I came back from the pub at about 12 and then this had happened."

Dean O'Connell, 20, who lives in a flat in the close, said: "You don't expect it somewhere like this, but this area is renowned for a little bit of drugs. Most of the trouble here, I imagine, is because of drugs. If it is drugs, the extent that it's gone to is mental."

Gary Sanderson, a spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Services, who was called to the scene, said: "The three males were pronounced dead almost immediately. The women were treated rapidly and were taken to hospital with serious injuries. The little girl was carried out of the house and she was fine. This is one of the largest- scale incidences we've ever seen involving firearms. It's totally amazing. We were shocked."

Chief Superintendent Al Thomas, the area commander for East Hertfordshire police, said: "We don't underestimate the impact of these murders. We share the concern and sense of shock in the community. Early information suggests this was a targeted incident and not a random attack."

He said the police presence in the close and around town had been stepped up and that there had been no discernable rise in violent crime in the area.