Plymouth shooting - latest: Anger as gun returned to Jake Davison and ‘incels could be classed as terrorists’

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Vigil held in Plymouth following Jake Davison mass shooting

Labour has said police have questions to answer over how a gunman obtained a firearms licence and went on a rampage as more tributes poured in for the victims of the killing spree.

Gunman Jake Davison killed five people – including his mother and a three-year-old girl – and injured two others in the city’s Keyham area on Thursday evening before turning his gun on himself.

The 22-year-old had his gun returned weeks before Thursday’s deadly shooting spree after it was taken away last December following an assault allegation, according to the police watchdog.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said it will investigate Devon and Cornwall Police’s decision-making in relation to Davison’s possession of the weapon and certificate.

On Saturday, Priti Patel visited Plymouth to pay tribute to the victims . The city council chief also said residents remained “in a state of shock” after experiencing the UK’s first mass shooting in more than a decade.

Key Points

• Investigation launched into shooter’s possession of gun and firearms licence
• Residents ‘still in state of shock’, city’s council leader says
• ‘Incels’ could be treated as terrorists if number of attacks grows
• Priti Patel visits Plymouth to pay tribute to victims
• Labour says there are questions to be asked over gun licensing laws

[14 August 2021 10:32 · Zoe Tidman]

Davison ‘should have been on police watchlist'

Plymouth gunman Jake Davison should have been on a police watchlist before he killed five people and himself in a shooting spree, a former top prosecutor said.

Nazir Afzal, who was previously chief crown prosecutor for the North West said Davison was “exactly the type of person the authorities should be keeping an eye on”.

Mr Afzal said none of Davison’s social media posts seemed to have been taken into account when restoring his gun licence.

PA

[14 August 2021 10:45 · Zoe Tidman]

What do we know so far about attack and victims?

Five people were killed in the attack before the gunman turned the weapon on himself.

Here is what we know about Thursday’s events and the shooting’s victims:

[14 August 2021 10:58 · Zoe Tidman]

‘You have got to think about how we deal with these men'

Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, has said that if incels and extreme misogyny were treated as terrorism then authorities would have more powers to investigate it.

He told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: “You have got to think about how we deal with these men, and they are always men. What are they saying online, how are they being radicalised, who is doing the radicalisation.

“If you treat it as terrorism then you have other options open to you in terms of intelligence gathering, in terms of being able to prosecute for disseminating materials, in terms of being able to hold them to account if they are conspiring with each other.

“So, there are other potential offences available if you treat it as terrorism, but of course as we currently know that’s not what the government’s intention is.”

PA

[14 August 2021 11:00 · Zoe Tidman]

Tributes left to victims in Keyham

Flowers, balloons and messages have been left to the victims of the mass shooting and their families in the Keyham area of Plymouth on Saturday.

It comes after a vigil was held the night before, which was attended by hundreds.

Tributes left in the Keyham area of Plymouth to victims of the attack (PA)

People leave flowers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds (PA)

Floral tributes left in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds (PA)

[14 August 2021 11:23 · Zoe Tidman]

Dunblane victim’s brother calls for gun ownership changes

The brother of a five-year-old girl murdered during the Dunblane massacre has called for recreational ownership of guns to be outlawed following Thursday’s mass shooting in Plymouth.

Colin Drury reports:

[14 August 2021 11:46 · Zoe Tidman]

Police presence in Keyham

Police remain in the Keyham area of Plymouth on Saturday following the shooting two days before.

Images showed vehicles and officers at the scene of attacks:

Police activity in Royal Navy Avenue in the Keyham area of Plymouth (PA)

Police activity in Biddick Drive in the Keyham area of Plymouth, where the shooting spree started (PA)

[14 August 2021 12:07 · Zoe Tidman]

Return of firearms licence to gunman

Sir Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, said investigators will have to look into what enquiries were made into Plymouth gunman Jake Davison before his firearms licence was returned to him.

When asked on BBC Breakfast if it was “reasonable” for someone’s licence to to be returned to them within a year of being revoked, he said it depended on the “circumstances of the case”.

Sir Peter added: “There may have been one particular incident that person has overcome and further enquiries show that that person is not a threat with a firearm and, therefore, the firearm can be returned.

“Obviously, in hindsight, in light of this incredible tragedy, that decision now looks very, very questionable.

“But the investigators will have to look at what information was available to the police at that time and how far their investigations at that time went.”

[14 August 2021 12:35 · Zoe Tidman]

Who were the victims?

Devon and Cornwall Police have confirmed the identities of the five people that were killed in the mass shooting in Plymouth on Thursday.

Leonie Chao-Fong has more on the victims killed in the attack:

[14 August 2021 12:53 · Zoe Tidman]

Estimated 10,000 people who share incel views in country - former chief crown prosecutor

Former chief crown prosecutor for the North West Nazir Afzal told BBC Breakfast on Saturday there were 10,000 people with incel views like Jake Davison in the country.

He said: “How many of them, a small minority, are a threat?

“We have to recognise that we have a responsibility to identify them and share that information.”

PA

[14 August 2021 13:16 · Zoe Tidman]

Home secretary visits Keyham

Priti Patel has visited Keyham in Plymouth to pay tribute to the victims of the shooting.

The home secretary laid flowers at North Down Crescent Park on Saturday.

Ms Patel was joined by the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police Shaun Sawyer, who also laid a large bouquet of white flowers.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Shaun Sawyer, visiting the tributes in Plymouth, Devon (PA)