Victims of gun horror remembered by family and friends
The victims whose lives were claimed by the divorced father-of-two have been identified as:
Derrick Bird’s twin brother, a father-of-three, was shot at his home.
Reports suggest the pair had rowed over a will and David Bird was the first victim.
Relative Joy Ryan, who lives in Rowrah, said the brothers’ mother Mary Bird was “stunned”.
“She just couldn’t make sense of it. She kept saying she wanted to talk to them, she wanted to talk to her sons.”
The Bird family’s solicitor was found dead in the driveway of his house.
Solicitor Tim Frost, who worked at the law firm KJ Commons & Co which Mr Commons established in Cumbria, said: “Kevin was a man committed to the service of the local community here in West Cumbria and beyond, and his passing will leave a massive void in the legal community in particular as well as the local area in which he had made his home for many years.”
He was killed as Bird produced a gun and shot fellow taxi drivers in Duke Street, Whitehaven.
A man, who did not want to be named, claimed an argument broke out between Bird and three other men at the Duke Street taxi rank.
People nearby said the victim was Kenneth Fishburn, a retired security worker at the nearby Sellafield nuclear power plant.
The mother-of-two died on Hagget End, Orgill, in Egremont. She was shot by Bird as she walked home with her shopping and was seen lying on the road, still holding her shopping bags.
In a statement released by police, her family said: “Susan was a proud and determined mother of two daughters. She is completely irreplaceable to her family and friends.”
Mrs Jackson was shot in the street in Wilton before her husband was killed when he came looking for her. One stunned neighbour simply thought Bird had driven up to Wilton, honked his horn, then turned round and shot Mrs Jackson. Her husband, who used to work for the ambulance service, was talking to another couple and was shot dead.
The part-time mole catcher was in conversation with a farmer when Bird shot him dead at the edge of a field in Carleton, Cumbria. The other man was left unharmed.
Neighbour Joan Ferguson, 64, said of Mr Dixon: “He helped everybody, he was that sort of person. He was a gentleman. He did a lot for everybody, if anybody wanted him. He will be sadly missed.”
Mr Dixon was in his 60s with a son and two grandchildren and lived alone in a flat in Beckgreen, Egremont.
A popular player with Workington Town rugby league club, he was shot as he worked in a field near Gosforth.
Mr Purdham was a farmer’s son with two young children, according to neighbours.
He was “quite simply a gentleman and a real pleasure to know,” said club chairman David Bowden.
His 30-year-old brother Rob captains Harlequins rugby league side in London and has been capped five times for England.
Mr Purdham was trimming hedges with his uncle in the village just before midday when Bird drove past, wound down his car window and blasted him, according to a neighbour.
Mr Bowden said: “Everyone at the club is shocked and devastated to hear this unbelievable and tragic news.”
Mr Pike, who lived with his wife Sheena and son Jason, 39, in Seascale, was blasted to death while riding a bicycle in the village.
His son said: “We understand that he was shot dead while out cycling, which he did most mornings to keep fit.
“He was a much-loved husband, father and grandfather. He was a happy man at the time he died and satisfied with the things he achieved.”
She was shot dead yards from the home she shared with her twin sister.
Unmarried and in her 70s, she was killed while going door-to-door delivering Betterware catalogues.
One local said: “You could not find two more gentle people than those two sisters.”
The estate agent was driving through Seascale when Bird opened fire on him.
It was unclear whether it was one of Bird’s bullets or the resulting crash which killed him.
Colleague Ryan Parker described Mr Clark, who worked in Cockermouth for lettings firm Belvoir, as “one of the nicest lads you could ever hope to meet”.
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