http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/6629561.stm

More murders in Shrewsbury? We seem to be tallying up quite a figure recently!

Seriously, this just shows how bad things are getting in some parts of the county town. But these problem areas are always overlooked by many, including those living in the much nicer parts of town (ie on the other side of the river)! I await the descriptions the BBC will give Shrewsbury - "small charming market town in rural Shropshire" etc no doubt. Or maybe they'll remember the Frankwell murders, etc, and remind viewers/listeners/readers about them too.

Think I'm a lot safer here in Manchester. :rolleyes:

Jesus H Christ! :o

sky news has announced the name of one of the deceased,I hope that his family have already been informed.

s.g.d.

Sky is saying he was a gamekeeper with access to guns, I guess this relates to the gun-control debate some of us have been having recently on this forum :(

No comfort to the family of the PC killed I know but this is the first policeman killed on duty in the whole of the UK for 18 months.

Not including Northern Ireland In the 1970s 27 police were killed on duty, in the 80s 42, in the 90s 21 and so far since 2000 only 15. This is a very rare occurence and thankfully not getting any less rare.

Yes it's good to see those national figures coming slowly down.

It’s been quite a day, condolences to the family of the police officer shot and also others caught up in this incident.

I was on the scene from 10am this morning when we managed to have most of the story available to us from local residents, although this was not to be broadcast until official confirmation.

No broadcast or print media would have announced any names until official conformation is given. On the radio we went with a major police incident and general scene setting not even mentioning any firearms until clearance was given.

I did a live news item for SKY News at midday as a top story; the BBC also did a live voicer from the scene on News 24 at this time. The story has obviously made top story on national news outlets for most of the day.

I believe that the Shropshire Star are running a special earlier edition tomorrow.

Lots more detail from thisislondon.co.uk

---------------------------

Police officer shot dead in 'domestic incident'
06.05.07

A police officer died this morning after being shot trying to help a woman at the centre of a violent domestic row.

It is believed that Peter Medlicott, 33, shot the Pc before he turned the gun on himself.

Neighbours watched in horror as the bleeding policeman was pulled into the street by two supporting officers.

Community support officers seal off stand at a police cordon on New Park Road in the Castlefields area of Shrewsbury, where a police officer was shot dead

Stunned residents said they heard gunshots just before 7am and then someone ran into the street shouting "watch out he has a gun".

Both Medlicott and the Pc died despite ambulance staff desperately trying to save their lives.

New Park Street, Shrewsbury, was cordoned off yesterday and up to 20 police officers guarded the house until forensics arrived just after 11am.

Karen Walker, 49, who lives directly opposite said: "Everyone was woken up by the racket.

"We heard one shot and then there was loads of shouting. It might have been the other police officers shouting.

"Then we heard another shot. I looked out of the window with my daughter and you could see the other two officers pulling the policeman who had been shot along the road.

"The officer was bleeding badly. Then we heard another shot a couple of minutes later.

"We just can't believe it, right outside our front door. We can't even leave."

Residents described Medlicott as a "druggie and a bit of a troublemaker" and that drug users were always hanging around outside his one bedroomed flat.

The Pc, who has not yet been identified, was originally called to the house in New Park Street following reports of a domestic disturbance.

Medlicott and his partner had been arguing for just under half an hour before three police officers arrived.

Mum-of-one Karen added: "We don't really know him but he does dabble in drugs. Everyone calls him a druggie and he drinks a lot.

"There are always people going in and out of that place. It is right opposite so you can see right in."

The two floor house on New Park Road, Shrewsbury, has been converted into two separate maisonettes and is near a residential home.

Arthur Carter, 82, who lives at the home, added: "We didn't know anything about it until some of the oldies here couldn't get their paper this morning.

"They have closed all the shops near the flat, including the newsagents. But we have been having a good look at what has been going on.

"There's been a police helicopter above the street for a couple of hours now."

West Mercia Chief Constable Paul West said: "The thoughts of everyone are with the family of our officer and others affected by this incident at this desperately sad time.

"A thorough investigation into all the circumstances surrounding this incident will be carried out in close consultation with the IPCC."

There are some more news links HERE My thoughts go out to the deceased policemans family at this time. Guns and the heat of the moment are such a bad combination. It seems Medlicott had a licence to keep guns as he indeed was a gamekeeper.

I am unclear about the profile we are getting. He seems to be a gamekeeper as well as a druggie and heavy drinker. He has a licence for firearms because of the first point, but I would have thought the other 2 points would cancel that out?
I take proud salopians point because when I moved to Birmingham I had elderly relatives telling me I was mad because Shrewsbury was so much safer!
If there was a murder in Brum I would receive a letter or phone call saying how worried they were and I should mind where I was going. In fact the city is about 20 miles across and the incidents are spread over a very wide area.
I don't knowe why you are suffering this spate of murders but lets hope it is brief because in a smaller area it can become ubnsettling for people. Good Luck!

Yep, I watched the reports on Sky news yesterday - you were right on that one.

why didn't the prick just do himself in,instead of taking a decent cop with him?

Because he was drunk. It happens every weekend in every town in Great Britain were a booze culture. Thank god we dont all have guns.

Like the new avatar town walls ! :lol:

But surely if we had issued everyone in Castlefields with an AK-47 beforehand, someone would have been able to shoot him long before the policeman arrived...

With comments like T.W, you'll end up with Kat getting you in her sights. :)

On a serious note -thank god we've got extremely brave coppers such as the late PC Gray. This incident could of ended up even worse -with innocent members of the public being shot dead.

I actually know someone who knows someone who knew him (Medlicott) and apparently he was sliding a little further off the rails than being "just" a drug user; he had problems with voices in his head or something (paranoid schizophrenia?) and used to threaten ppl if they mentioned it might jeopardise his gun licence. Or something like that - I emphasise this is third-hand information dimly remembered from about four or five months ago when I met him briefly.

I'm not sure whether being a drinker cancels out a gun licence - drinking is, after all, legal (unless driving a car) - but I would have thought the licence should have been revoked the moment he got his first caution/conviction for drug-related misbehaviour.

And re: Town_Walls' comment; have you been down that part of Castlefields? If you issued all residents with AK47s you'd have a bloodbath followed by a surge of newly available properties...oh, waitaminute... ;)

It's a shame that like minded people do not report these snippets of information on to the Police which in turn could stop ghastly incidents like this happening in the first place.

Mmm...perhaps true, and tragically so in this case, but I did try and emphasise this was neighbourhood gossip from months ago. At the time it wasn't a snippet of information, it was chatter whilst walking through the Galleries.