Taxi Driver Online

A number of people have been killed and others injured after a gunman opened fire in several areas of west Cumbria.

Police believe they have found the body of the suspected gunman, Derrick Bird. A force spokesman said the 52-year-old's body was found in the Boot area.

A number of people died and others were injured in towns including Whitehaven, Seascale and Egremont.

Detectives said Derrick Bird drove into the central Lakes in a Citroen Picasso before abandoning it in the Boot area.

People who live nearby were being urged to stay indoors for their own protection.

Police were initially called after shots were fired in Duke Street, Whitehaven, at 1035 BST.

Eyewitness Peter Watson said he had seen a body lying in the road.

"When I first got here it must have just happened. There was a man lying on the ground with police stood over him and a jacket on him," he said.

BBC Look North Chief Reporter Chris Stewart said that soon afterwards a farmer is believed to have been shot dead in Gosforth, several miles to the east.

A force spokesman said: "We can confirm that a number of people have been injured after shots were fired in the Whitehaven, Seascale and Egremont areas this morning.

"There are a number of fatalities and police are working to identify the individuals and inform relatives. Ambulance crews are in attendance across the area."

The Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in west Cumbria closed its gates as a safety precaution and afternoon shift workers were being told to stay away until the "risk is reduced".

Helicopters were brought in from other forces to help in the hunt for Derrick Bird.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10214661.stm

This is tragic, i wonder what could have drove this driver to commit such a crime

Apparently his first victim was another taxi driver.

More info
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... oting.html

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http://chestertaxicall.co.uk

Dear God.... We all have spats on the rank but that's a bit extreme. My sympathies to the families of the victims

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Life? Don't talk to me about life!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjm2eslm6hI

Indeed.

Having a rare up at the rank should never lead to such a dreadful outcome.

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IDFIMH

Could be he just had enough of being a taxi driver.....
The way things are going it could have been just the last straw which just flipped his mind.... very very sad....

Clearly he flipped his lid, but one has to wonder what sort of a nut case like him gets a gun license.

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IDFIMH

Some spats are that serious look at what happened to me Banned from the rank why for not putting up with being harrassed and verbally abused It is an extreme way to deal with it but i know what it feels like to be that angry !

From what i understand there has never been a problem before i doubt there was any reason not to give him a license although we do not know if he had a license or even kept guns before today

He's not the first to lose it, and he won't be the last. Things are getting tough, out there, and it doesn't take much to push some people over the edge. It will be interesting to find out what set him off.

Keep the lid on it edders23, you're making me nervous

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

Just seen it on the news.

Jeez.

Does CC know him, thats his neck of the woods?

I thought CC was in Carlisle thats in Whitehaven which is quite a few miles away down the coast

I can lose my temper like anyone else but violent with it NO violence is never the way to solve problems besides I live a few hundred miles away from you I think your safe

Its about 40 miles away, I have non cab driving mates who live in the area who I play golf with.

My son has mates in the villages that he plays football with and against.

The village of Seascale has a course I play quite regular......totally shocking incidents, my heart goes out to all the families.

Cumbria is a tight knit community, everybody knows each other, the rank where the first murder happened is one where I give out cab magazines when i'm in the area.

The first murder sounds personalised from an incident that happened hours previously between drivers.......the other shootings and murders seem random......some seem to be incredibly lucky to have escaped......others seem very unlucky to have been victims.

I cant believe this happened in one of my favourite places.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin