MASSACRE
The massacre was described by police investigating 30 separate crime scenes as “truly exceptional”.
Bird, a 52-year-old divorced father-of-two who lived with his mother, murdered two taxi driver colleagues in the middle of Whitehaven and drove through the Lake District blasting randomly at other victims.
One intended victim, shot at through the window of Bird’s cab, said she felt the gunshot brush past her hair before she ran to safety.
Many others were not so fortunate.
Seascale family doctor Barrie Walker said: “There were little children who witnessed these shootings – that will impact on the village for quite some time.”
Britain’s worst mass shooting since the 1996 Dunblane tragedy began when Bird shot fellow taxi drivers in the town of Whitehaven yesterday morning, killing one instantly.
The killing spree, during which people were told to stay indoors, ended over three hours later with the discovery of his body over 30km away in woods near the hamlet of Boot after a frantic manhunt. Police recovered two weapons.
Three of those injured in the shootings were in a “critical” condition in hospital last night and another five were said to be “serious”.
Those who knew Bird said he was a quiet, “normal bloke” with two grown-up sons who liked tinkering with his car and “kept himself to himself”.
His friend Peter Leder said that Bird had told him “you won’t see me again”.
The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, last night sent a message of condolence to British Prime Minister David Cameron. “I am deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the horrific shooting in West Cumbria earlier today,” he said.
The rampage began at about 10.30am when Bird produced a gun and shot fellow taxi drivers in Whitehaven, killing Darren Rewcastle and injuring another colleague.
One Whitehaven cab driver, who did not want to be named, claimed an argument broke out between Bird and other men on Tuesday night at the taxi rank.
People described their terror as Bird passed through the town with the shotgun hanging out of the window of his taxi.
After leaving Whitehaven, Bird travelled south along the coast, killing and wounding people in Egremont, Gosforth and Seascale before turning inland and ending up in Boot.
He murdered Garry Purdham as he worked in a field near Gosforth. Mr Purdham, a farmer’s son, was in his early 30s with two young children, according to neighbours.
In Seascale, Bird shot dead Jane Robinson, 66, just yards from her home. He also killed retired trade union organiser and father-of-two Michael Pike, 64, who was out cycling.
Publican Harry Berger, who runs the Woolpack in Boot, was shot in the arm in Seascale and was recovering in hospital.
A member of staff at the Woolpack Inn said a girl received minor buckshot wounds.
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