Whitehaven - June 2010 Shootings

June 2010 Shootings

On 2 June 2010, Whitehaven became a focus for the international media in relation to gun law in the United Kingdom, following the killings of people in the west of the county.

Taxi driver Derrick Bird travelled from his home in Rowrah, killing and maiming people on his journey to Whitehaven. Once in Whitehaven, Bird continued his attacks by shooting fellow taxi drivers, along with other members of the public. From there, Bird used his knowledge of county roads to continue his attacks. In total, there were 30 crime scenes investigated as a result of the shootings by Bird. 12 people were killed and 11 people were injured during his three hours of terror, before he finally turned one of his two guns onto himself in the village of Boot, thus ending one of the worst mass killings in British history.

A list of locations where shots were fired and where people were believed to have been killed:

• Duke Street, Whitehaven - shots fired and a man killed
• Orgill, Haggard End, Egremont - shots fired and one person killed;
• Town End Farm, Wilton - a man and a woman were killed after shots fired;
• Woodbank, Egremont - shots discharged;
• Bridge End, Egremont - shots fired and one person killed;
• Coach Road, Whitehaven - shots fired;
• Scotch Street, Whitehaven - shots fired;
• Red Admiral, Gosforth - shots fired and one man killed;
• Seascale railway station - shots fired;
• Yeat House Road, Frizington - shots fired and one person killed;
• Shore Road, Drigg - shots fired;
• Between Haile and Egremont near Carleton Wood - shots fired and one man killed;
• Drigg Road, Seascale - shots fired and one man and one woman killed;
• Gosforth Road, Seascale - shots fired and one man killed;
• Unident, Seascale - shots fired;
• High Trees, Lamplugh - shots fired and one man killed;
• Eskdale Green - shots fired;
• Outside Hollins Cottage campsite - shots fired;
• Wooded area in Boot - Bird found dead.