Man arrested after mother and daughter are shot dead

POLICE were last night questioning a man after a mother and her daughter died in a hail of bullets in a sleepy seaside town.

The gunman was said to have peppered the front window of a house. Two other women, one heavily pregnant, escaped unhurt but were treated in hospital for shock.

Police said they were all known to a 35-year-old man arrested near the house in St Leonards, East Sussex. The dead were named locally as Heather Whitbread, 53, and her daughter Michelle. The pregnant woman is believed to be Heather’s other daughter, Raven. Neighbours in Bexhill Road told how armed police ordered them to hide and keep their heads down as they cornered the gunman in an underpass on Friday evening. Officers had been called to the scene at 7.43pm.

A number of families were evacuated and taken to an Army base. They stayed with friends and family overnight, before they were allowed to return to their homes yesterday.

Lucy Peoples, 33, said: ‘I have three young children and was absolutely terrified. There were armed police and vehicles everywhere. My husband was at the shop when it happened and had to be escorted back by police.’ Libby Dawes, 27, said: ‘It all happened so quickly. The police were shouting at us to get out. We ran to the emergency vehicles and were taken to a nearby Army base. No one really knew what was happening.’

Kim Preston, 52, said: ‘Police were running down the street, shouting at everyone to stay away from the windows and to lock the doors.’

Yesterday, Sussex police confirmed they had recovered a firearm from the scene.

Chief Superintendent Jason Taylor said: ‘We are not looking for anyone else in connection with the murders but are appealing for witnesses.’