Multiple people were fatally shot in Plymouth, England, on Thursday, the police said — a rare occurrence in a country that has some of the world’s strictest gun control laws.
“There have been a number of fatalities at the scene and several other casualties are receiving treatment,” the Devon & Cornwall Police said on Twitter. “The area has been cordoned off and police believe the situation is contained.”
Local media reports said five or six people had been killed in the incident and a gunman shot dead by the police.
The authorities said nothing about a motive, but a local member of Parliament, Johnny Mercer, said on Twitter: “The incident is not terror related, and neither is the suspect on the run in Plymouth.”
The police said they were called to Keyham, a 19th-century district of Plymouth, at 6:10 p.m. The neighborhood quickly filled with police cars and ambulances, and several helicopter air ambulances were sent.
Plymouth is a port city in the county of Devon, in southwest England, almost 200 miles from London.
In England and Wales, homicides committed with firearms average about 30 per year, according to figures compiled by the government.
Source : Nytimes
