5 June 2010 / REUTERS, WHITEHAVEN, ENGLAND
British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Cumbria on Friday to offer government support to local communities reeling after a quiet taxi-driver gunned down 12 people in Britain’s worst shooting rampage for years.
Derrick Bird’s three-hour killing spree on Wednesday through towns and villages in one of Britain’s top tourist spots stunned the country and has left authorities struggling to determine his motives. Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May visited a hospital where most of the 11 people wounded in the attacks were treated before meeting Cumbria’s chief constable and other police officers who dealt with the aftermath of the shootings. “Obviously, people here in west Cumbria have suffered the most appalling tragedy and it will have a huge impact on the community,” Cameron said after the meeting. “I wanted to come here to show the government wanted to listen, wanted to show how much it cares about what has happened here.” He repeated his view that, while there should be a full debate about Britain’s tough gun control laws, there should not be a knee-jerk response to the tragedy.
