Killer of three was member of gun club
Police said these were for three shotguns and three “section one” firearms, a category requiring greater authorisation than a shotgun licence.
The body of the man, named locally as taxi driver Michael Atherton, and those of the three women were found in “close proximity” downstairs in a semi-detached house in Greenside Avenue, Horden, Durham, after police were alerted to shots fired shortly before 11.45pm on Sunday.
Durham Police said Atherton, 42, shot and killed his 47-year-old partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull, 44, and her niece Tanya Turnbull, 24, before turning the gun on himself.
Police confirmed that a girl in her late teens who suffered minor injuries escaped through an upstairs window. Other people also survived, including a man who was initially arrested but later released without charge. Durham police assistant chief constable Michael Banks told a news conference that a resident at the address was the “lawful holder” of shotgun and firearms licences.
Police could not confirm if any of those lawfully held weapons had been used in the shooting.
“This is a tragic event. We have four people who died late last night and our thoughts and feelings are with their family and friends at this moment,” said Banks. “I would like to reassure our communities that the police are in control of this incident.
“At this moment, we are looking for no one else in relation to this inquiry.”
Banks said a number of calls were made to the police control room, just before 11.45pm on Sunday, to report that shots had been fired at the address.
“The police were dispatched to the scene and shortly after midnight, as our officers entered the house, it was discovered that a man and three women were dead in the house.
“It is our belief at this stage that they died of gunshot wounds.”
Detective superintendent Paul Goundry said all the deceased were related. Police said a shotgun was found next to the man’s body.
Goundry revealed police had had “minor contact” with the family in the past.
Banks said they encountered the family in 2008.
“We have had contact with the family. We are busy reviewing the exact circumstances around that. There was a report of a male at that address self-harming. That was some years ago. We are researching all of this,” he said.
Goundry said there had been other people in the house interviewed.
Meanwhile, police in Staffordshire said the deaths of a man and a woman whose bodies were found inside a house are being treated as suspicious.
Staffordshire Police said the bodies were found at about 12.50pm yesterday at an address in Ness Grove, Cheadle, which has now been sealed off.
A police spokesman said an investigation is under way and forensic examinations are being conducted at the scene.
