Western Morning News (Saturday)
Outpouring of grief following Keyham deaths
THE shooting tragedy in Plymouth has led to outpourings of sympathy and offers of help from across the local community.
Members of the public yesterday began to leave flowers at the scene in Keyham, near a police cordon on Wolseley Road, while hundreds of people have taken to social media to pay their respects to the victims and share messages of condolence.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted yesterday: “My thoughts are with the friends and family of those who lost their lives and with all those affected by the tragic incident in Plymouth last night. I thank the emergency services for their response.”
Plymouth City Council said Smeaton’s Tower would be lit up as a “beacon of light” and a mark of respect for the victims of the tragedy, while flags across the city were flying at half-mast.
In a joint statement yesterday from the leader of Plymouth City Council and the leader of the opposition, Cllr Nick Kelly said: “Plymouth is a city in shock today. This is a city with a reputation for being friendly, for being safe.
“Details of what happened last night are still emerging and it will be some time before we know the whole story, but we do know that Plymouth people have a history of coming together to support each other.
“Our thoughts are with the families of those affected by this awful tragedy and those who may have witnessed this distressing event. We are mourning with them. We are already working closely with our colleagues in Devon and Cornwall Police and organisations such as
Livewell, Barnado’s, the Red Cross and other volunteer organisations to offer support for grieving families and the close-knit community of Keyham.”
Cllr Kelly, who was visiting Keyham yesterday to meet with the local community, added: “We know that events of this scale will ripple across our city and it is truly heartening to see community venues and churches have opened their doors so that people can talk and share their thoughts and for reflection.
“Our flags are flying at half-mast as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in this appalling situation.”
He said yesterday that as a “mark of respect for the victims, tonight we will also be lighting Smeaton’s Tower – a beacon of light, on a very dark, dark day for Plymouth.”
Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Tudor Evans added: “The whole city is united in its shock and grief over this horrendous event and our thoughts go out to all those who are affected.
“This is so, so tragic. We will all work together to do all we can to help people come to terms with this truly shocking episode.”
Plymouth City Council said in a tweet that “our hearts go out to everyone affected by this terrible incident”.
Plymouth Argyle FC tweeted on Thursday evening: “Our hearts go out to victims of tonight’s tragic incident in our city, alongside their families, friends, and the wider Plymouth community.”
A groundswell of sympathy came
from local figures and national leaders.
Home Secretary Priti Patel posted on social media: “The incident in Plymouth is shocking and my thoughts are with those affected. I have spoken to the Chief Constable and offered my full support.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted on Thursday: “My thoughts are with the families and neighbours of those caught up in this nightmare. I pay tribute to our emergency services who ran towards events we’d all run from.”
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds described it as “truly terrible” news, and said he was thinking of the families and friends of those who have died and been injured.
He added: “Thank you to our remarkable emergency services.
“I’ve been in contact with local representatives to express my support for the whole community of Plymouth on this awful evening.”
Plymouth Sutton MP Luke Pollard described it as “a very grim day for our city and our community”. He said yesterday: “As a community we need today to come together to make sense of the events and we’ve got community centres and churches, schools opening across the Keyham area to give people a space for people to be able to share their experience and how they are feeling.”
Offers of help came in from Ford Primary School and St Marks Church on Cambridge Road, which opened their doors to local people from Friday morning.
Johnny Mercer, Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, said: “We have suffered an appalling incident of violence. Clearly there is a lot of work to do to support communities who watched and saw some horrific incidents. There are families at the centre of all of this, and we will do everything that we can to pull together as a city to support those who need it and deal with what is one of the darkest days for many, many years.
“It is a devastating incident and appalling act of violence and it will have far reaching effects through the community which is very tight knit down there in Keyham.
“Clearly we are thinking of the families and the emergency services who have dealt with a horrific situation that we don’t expect to happen in Plymouth.” He added: “The tragedy is far reaching and the details are heart-breaking for many individuals across the city and we will do all we can to support the people.”
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: “My thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased, those injured and the people of Plymouth after this horrendous and tragic incident.
“I would like to pay tribute to the hard work of our blue light services this evening who have done all they can to deal with those directly affected and get the injured the best possible medical care.”
She said anyone affected could contact Victim Support services on 08 08 16 89 111 24 hours a day or via victimcaredevonandcornwall.org. uk.