It’s six minutes that will change Plymouth forever. In this short period of time, a young man shoots five people and finally himself. His motive is still unknown.
Plymouth – A bloody act with six dead left the southern English port city of Plymouth in shock and sadness. Police chief Shaun Sawyer announced that a 22-year-old killed two men and three women, including a “very young girl,” before shooting himself. Two people were seriously injured.
It is the UK’s most shot dead incident in more than a decade. The authorities initially did not provide any information on the motive.
British media reported that the alleged perpetrator was part of the so-called incel scene. The abbreviation comes from the English term “involuntary celibate” and primarily describes men who involuntarily abstain and develop hatred of women and sexually active men. The PA news agency reported that Jake D. made corresponding statements in social networks.
Shock and sadness
It is six minutes that could permanently change Plymouth, the main base of the British Navy. MEP Johnny Mercer speaks of “one of the darkest days in many, many years”. The Bishop of Plymouth, Mark O’Toole, called people to pray for victims and loved ones. There is “a deep sense of shock and sadness” over the city, he said.
Shortly after 6 p.m. (local time, 7 p.m. CEST), a resident of the BBC reported that an attacker kicked the door of a house in the Keyham district and started shooting. Police Chief Sawyer later confirmed that Jake D. initially shot and killed a woman in a cul-de-sac house. Victims and perpetrators therefore knew each other. Presumably they were related – according to media reports, it was the shooter’s mother, but Sawyer refused to confirm this.
Outside, Jake D. kept firing. First, he targeted the girl and a relative of the child and killed them both. As media reported, the girl was walking her dog. The perpetrator then seriously injured a man and a woman. Then he fled through a park, where he shot a man and injured a woman so badly that she died in the hospital. Then he shot himself. It is still unclear whether Jake D., a crane operator, knew the other victims personally or by sight.
Rare rampages in Great Britain
The bloody act also causes horror across the country because rampages are rare in Great Britain. The gun laws are strict. The last case so far was a good eleven years ago: In June 2010, a man in the north-west of England’s Cumbria region shot his twin brother and a lawyer to death, apparently triggered by an inheritance dispute. He then killed ten other people and injured about a dozen before shooting himself. The perpetrator had a gun license. According to police chief Sawyer, Jake D. also had a corresponding permit for at least 2020.
The people in the neighborhood were “devastated” by the brutality of the attack, said Plymouth MP Luke Pollard to Times Radio. “Keyham is a really close-knit community – it’s the kind of place where you know your neighbor and take care of each other.”
The third division soccer team Plymouth Argyle canceled a press conference and lowered the flags at the stadium to half mast. Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered his condolences to the families of the victims. dpa
My thoughts are with the friends and family of those who lost their lives and with all those affected by the tragic incident in Plymouth last night. I thank the emergency services for their response.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 13, 2021
