Plymouth gunman had rowed with mum
Inquest hears circumstances of tragedy that left five people dead
A gunman shot dead five people after a row with his mother, an inquest has heard.
Jake Davison, 22, killed his mother Maxine Davison, 51, at her home in Plymouth before going outside and shooting dead four others in a 12-minute attack on the evening of August 12.
Three-year-old Sophie Martyn and her father Lee, 43, were shot dead in front of horrified onlookers as they walked their pet dog in Biddick Drive.
Davison then shot Stephen Washington, 59, in a nearby park, before shooting Kate Shepherd, 66, on Henderson Place.
The apprentice crane operator then turned the gun on himself before armed officers reached him.
During a 10-minute hearing yesterday, Ian Arrow, senior coroner for Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon, formally opened the inquests into Davison’s victims and received evidence from police of identification and the brief circumstances of their deaths.
Detective Steve Hambly, the senior investigating officer, told the hearing all five had died from shotgun wounds and the results of histology and toxicology tests were pending.
He said Mrs Davison, a former trawler woman, had died at her home address in Biddick Drive, in the Keyham area of the city.
“The circumstances of her death are that Maxine sustained fatal gunshot wounds following an argument with her son,” he told the court.
“Police are not looking for any other persons in connection with Maxine’s death. On present evidence the medical cause of death has been ascertained as shotgun wounds to the torso and head.”
Mr Hambly said Mr Martyn, a married carpenter, was shot dead in Biddick Drive while walking with his daughter Sophie and the family dog. “Lee was fatally shot by an assailant who was not known to him,” the officer said. Mr Hambly added that Mr Martyn’s daughter Sophie had died from shotgun wounds to her head.
The hearing was told Mr Washington, who was a carer for his wife, was shot while out walking his dogs in parkland close to Biddick Drive. He was shot in the chest, Mr Hambly told the inquest.
The final victim of Davison’s rampage was Katherine Shepherd, a married artist, who was fatally shot on Henderson Close.
Mrs Shepherd, who was known as Kate, was taken to Derriford Hospital where she died that evening, the inquest heard.
In a separate five-minute hearing, the coroner opened and adjourned the inquest into the death of Davison.
The inquest heard the police investigation was looking at events on the evening of August 12, while the IOPC inquiry would consider how Davison came to legally own a shotgun.
Mr Arrow asked Det Insp Hambly to speak with the IOPC about considering any changes made by the Home Office or the former Association of Chief Police Officers following the case of Michael Atherton in County Durham in 2012. Atherton, 42, shot himself, his partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull and Ms Turnbull’s daughter Tanya on New Year’s Day.
The coroner adjourned all inquests and fixed a provisional date for pre-inquest reviews on December 9.