Priest urges fight ‘cycle of anger’ during prayers for Plymouth shooting victims – he said Bedford News

Prayers have been said for the five victims of the Plymouth shooting as the community gathers in mourning.

A church in Keyham near the scene used a Sunday service to remember those killed on Thursday, while a special prayer was written by the Bishop of Exeter.

It came as questions continue to mount about how shooter Jake Davison, 22, got a gun license and had his party before turning the gun on himself.

Father David Way, pastor of St Thomas’ Church in Keyham, told the PA News Agency after the service: “These deceased people we must keep in our prayers, but also the loved ones who have been left behind. for account.

“I hope we can break any cycle of anger, so to speak, and bring a cycle of love to everyone involved.”

During the service, he asked the congregation to pray for the five victims, Maxine Davison, Lee Martyn, Sophie Martyn, Kate Shepherd and Stephen Washington, adding, “We also pray for peace for Jake.

The service intervened as a former Metropolitan Police chief said officers should scour the social media accounts of people applying for gun licenses to make sure “guns don’t fall between the hands of dangerous people “.

Davison’s use of social media suggested an obsession with “incel” culture, meaning “unintentional bachelor”.

Luke Pollard, Labor MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said there was a “sense of anger” among residents at the way the events of the atrocity unfolded.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I think people’s emotions have gone from shock and disbelief to feeling now of this deep loss of the five people who were killed.

“But also a feeling of anger. Wanting to know the questions of how was it allowed to happen, why did it happen and were there opportunities to stop it that weren’t taken?

“We need to get the answers from these and that will take some time, and the police need to be able to have the space to do it. But we have to make sure that the community gets these appropriate responses, because they deserve them. “

An investigation is already underway into Davison’s possession of a shotgun and firearms license, which were returned to him after it was withdrawn late last year.

The police watchdog has launched an investigation following a mandatory dismissal from Devon and Cornwall Police, which contains preliminary information that Davison’s gun and license were returned to him early July of this year.

The certificate and shotgun were withdrawn by police in December 2020 following an assault allegation in September 2020, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

Davison shot dead his 51-year-old mother, Maxine Chapman, in a house on Biddick Drive before going out onto the streets and gunning down three-year-old Sophie and her father, Mr Martyn, 43.

During the 12-minute attack witnessed by horrified onlookers, Davison then killed Mr Washington, 59, in a nearby park before shooting Ms Shepherd, 66, who later died in hospital in Derriford.

Jess Morcom, Mr Martyn’s cousin and journalist at PlymouthLive, paid tribute to him and his daughter and spoke of the loss felt by her family.

In a Twitter post, she said Mr. Martyn “had the kindest heart, would do anything for anyone” and that “you only had to look at him to see how much he loved and adored him. his family”.

Davison also shot two local residents who know each other, a 33-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman, at Biddick Drive, who sustained serious injuries that are not believed to be life threatening.