Plymouth is reeling from the worst mass shooting in Britain since 2010.
A witness to the mass shooting in Plymouth on Thursday night has described “horrendous” scenes as the gunman kicked in the door of a house and “randomly started shooting”.
Jake Davison, 22, shot three females and two males, before turning the gun on himself in the Keyham district of the city. One of the victims is a “very young girl” police confirmed at a press conference on Friday.
Sharon, who did not wish to give her full name, described the events as “horrendous and sad”, telling the BBC: “Firstly, there was shouting, followed by gunshots – three possibly four to begin with.”
She continued: “This was when the shooter kicked in the door of a house and randomly started shooting. He ran from the house shooting as he ran and proceeded to shoot at a few people in the linear park up from the drive.”
Related links:
Plymouth timeline: Police detail how Jake Davison killed five people in as many minutes
Plymouth gunman who killed five named
Plymouth shooting: Child among six killed
Police confirm a ‘number of fatalities after shooting’ in Plymouth
She added that the shooter then “proceeded along Royal Navy Avenue still shooting.”
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, police detailed how Davison began his rampage on Biddick Drive, while armed with a pump-action gun.
Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable Shaun said the shooting was initially “domestically-related”, with Davison shooting a woman at an address that was known to him. He would not say if they were related.
The shooting spree then, “spilled out into the street”.
After leaving the first address, Davison killed a “very young girl” along with the girl’s male relative in a “truly shocking event witnessed by members of the public.”
Sawyer said Davison then aimed and shot at two local residents, a man and a woman, who are now being treated for injuries that are not life-threatening.
Another man was then shot and killed before Davison continued his rampage, claiming the life of another woman who died in hospital.
Davison then shot himself, before police had a chance to “engage” with him. Police received multiple calls about the shooting at 6.11pm and arrived within six minutes, Sawyer said.
Robert Pinkerton, 54, told the BBC how he “walked around the corner” and “bumped into a bloke with a shotgun”. He said the man was dressed all in black.
Local resident, John, told MailOnline: “I heard the air ambulance helicopters, and two of them landed in the playing field behind us.
“Then we could hear police cars screeching and we saw armed response officers running up the hill, carrying guns. And loads of ambulances arrived.
“I went out to check that people were all right and to ask if there was anything we could do, and the Police Community Support Officers told everyone to get back indoors.
“Then we saw the ambulances take people away. It all seemed to be happening at the man’s family home, I think. People are saying that the man has killed himself. He’s only a young guy, late teens or early 20s.”
Other members of the public told Sky News that it sounded like a bomb was going off.
Sawyer said Davison had a gun license in 2020 and that a motive had not yet been established. It was not known if Davison had any mental health issues, but police have said the attack was not terror-related.
In his last video uploaded to YouTube, Davison talked about being a “terminator”, according to reports.
Davison, an apprentice crane operator, described himself on his YouTube channel as an ‘incel’ and made references to the fatalist ‘blackpill’ philosophy to which the radical fringe group subscribes, the Telegraph reported, noting also that he appeared to have an obsession with guns.
In his final video post, on July 28, the newspaper said that Davison spent 11-minutes talking about how his life had hit a dead end and his struggles with attracting women and weight loss. The video blog ended with Davison saying he likes to think “I’m a Terminator”.
“The whole premise of the Terminator movies is that you know everything is rigged against you, there’s no hope for humanity, you know, we’re on the brink of extinction, these machines are unstoppable killing machines that can’t be beaten, can’t be outsmarted, but yet humanity still tries to fight to the end,” Davison said in the video.
“I know it’s a movie, but, you know, I like to think sometimes I’m a Terminator or something and despite reaching almost total system failure, he keeps trying to accomplish his mission.”
