Plymouth Shooting

The Plymouth shooting occurred in Keyham, Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom, on 12 August 2021. The gunman, 22-year-old Jake Davison, shot and killed five people and injured two others before fatally shooting himself. Devon and Cornwall Police have not identified a motive.

In response, the Home Office announced that it would issue updated guidelines for firearms licence applications.

Background

In the United Kingdom, it is necessary to have either a firearms certificate (FAC) or a shotgun certificate (SGC) to legally own most classes of permitted firearms; in Great Britain, certificates are granted by the local policing authority. For an FAC, the applicant must demonstrate a good reason for owning the particular firearm, as well as having certified secure storage, while an SGC only requires the latter; both types of certificate require a background check.

Shooting

At 18:11 BST (UTC+1) on 12 August 2021, Devon and Cornwall Police received reports of shots having been fired inside a house on Biddick Drive, a residential street in the Keyham area of Plymouth; within the house, 22-year-old Jake Davison had killed his 51-year-old mother after an argument. He then left the house with what witnesses described as a pump-action shotgun, and shot and killed a 3-year-old girl and her 43-year-old father in the street. Next, he injured a 53-year-old woman and her 33-year-old son in a house on Biddick Drive, before shooting and killing a 59-year-old man in a nearby park.

Davison then went to Henderson Place, where he shot and fatally wounded a 66-year-old woman; he told a passing resident that there was "nothing to worry about, mate". Shortly before killing himself, Davison was described as "walking like ewas on patrol, like a soldier with a gun" and with a "blank expression". At 18:23, Davison shot himself on Henderson Place.

Emergency response

Devon and Cornwall Police and the South Western Ambulance Service were alerted to the incident at 18:11 and 18:12, respectively. The ambulance service responded with a significant number of resources, including hazardous area response teams, ambulances, specialist paramedics, and air ambulances. According to Devon and Cornwall Police, officers attended the scene within six minutes of the emergency calls, and they subsequently found the bodies of Davison and four of the victims. They described the events as a "serious firearms incident" and established thirteen different crime scenes within the cordoned area.

The 66-year-old female victim was treated at Henderson Place for gunshot wounds but later died in Derriford Hospital. The two survivors received significant but non-life-threatening injuries. At 21:25, the police reported they believed the incident to be contained.

Perpetrator

The gunman was named by police as Jake Davison, a 22-year-old from Plymouth and an apprentice crane operator at security and defence company Babcock International. The chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Shaun Sawyer, said that Davison's motive was unknown, but that police believed the shooting was a "domestic incident hatspilled into the streets". He stated that police were not considering terrorism as a motive, although commentators have questioned whether Davison's ideologies would constitute terrorism.

Davison was diagnosed with autism and ADHD as a child and attended Mount Tamar school for special needs children. He was a regular visitor to Shetland, where he spent long periods of time with his mother's relatives; it was there that initial concerns were raised about his mental state. In 2016, Davison was reported to the police for allegedly attacking a man and his pregnant girlfriend not far from where the shooting would occur; Davison was warned by police but not prosecuted. A close source to the family said that Davison had recently deteriorated after suffering from mental health problems for most of his life, and that his mother was "begging for help from the authorities but nobody did a welfare check". During the UK's COVID-19 lockdowns in the eighteen months before the shooting, Davison had accessed a local mental health support charity.

Davison had been licensed to own a firearm since 2018, and police believe he used a legally-held firearm in the shooting. Police had removed his shotgun and licence in December 2020 following an assault allegation described as "a row with two youths", but the weapons were returned in early July 2021, a month before the killings, after he completed an anger management course. Following Devon and Cornwall Police's self-referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the agency investigated the service's previous dealings with Davison, its decision to grant him a firearms licence and the decision to reinstate the licence, and the decision to return his gun after it was temporarily revoked.

Misogynistic and incel-related views

Davison uploaded videos to YouTube under the name "Professor Waffle". His videos included references to "inceldom", the black pill worldview and general nihilism. In his last video, Davison described himself as "beaten down and defeated by life" and said: "I wouldn't clarify myself as an incel but have talked to people similar to me who have had nothing but themselves."

Davison expressed misogynist and homophobic views, and used Reddit to share hostility and resentment towards his mother, who had repeatedly attempted to obtain – and persuade him to receive – treatment for his mental health. On Reddit, he subscribed to incel-related content, and other clips of his videos contained further references to, and used terminology of, that community. In one clip, Davison discussed "missing out on a teenage romance" and referred to " Chads", slang for confident, sexually active men. He said he had considered using drugs to "make up for that missed teenage experience" and that, "I have a feeling like I missed that boat and it's never coming back".

Davison was also active in gun enthusiast subreddits. Reddit suspended his account a day before the shooting for making inappropriate comments to a 16-year-old female American Reddit user. He had initially been friendly with the girl and had discussed having a relationship with her, before the conversation soured and he began to repeatedly ask to have sex with her. According to the report, the girl complained that he had repeatedly asked her to date him, travel to see him, and have sex with him, and had made comments about how sex with someone of her age is acceptable because it was legal in the UK. Various users urged her to report Davison to the police, but she wrote that she did not know what to do and had been advised by her mother not to get involved.

Davison's mother had begun to argue with her son over his sexist views and diatribes on women in the months before the shooting. A neighbour said Davison and his mother "used to be close ..but then his views changed and he went against women and he became a misogynist ..they clashed a lot about that." Davison had a physical confrontation with his father shortly before the shooting. His Facebook and YouTube accounts were terminated in line with the sites' behavioural policies.

Aftermath

Vigil and condolences

An evening vigil was held on 13 August at North Down Crescent Park in Keyham. Flags in the city were flown at half-mast, and Smeaton's Tower was lit up that evening as a mark of respect.

Books of condolence were made available in several locations, along with an online book on the Plymouth City Council's website. Several memorials were placed at areas close to the crime scenes, where flowers and cards were laid, as well as further impromptu vigils being held by residents.

Investigation

On 19 August the inquest into the deaths of Davison and his five victims was opened in Plymouth. The investigation, codenamed Operation Lillypad, was led by Detective Inspector Steve Hambly. Hambly said that Davison's mother was the only victim known to the attacker. The IOPC investigated why Davison had a shotgun licence despite concerns around his mental health, and the senior coroner asked the office to examine the case of Michael Atherton who in 2012 killed his partner, her sister, her niece and himself despite having a history of domestic abuse and self-harm threats.

On 6 October 2021, the IOPC issued disciplinary notices to two members of Devon and Cornwall Police over their handling of Davison's certificate for his shotgun, which he used for clay pigeon shooting.

Firearm licensing

On 15 August 2021, the British government announced that it would issue guidance to require police to investigate social media posts of firearms licence applicants and current holders. Before the new guidance is published, the Home Office asked all police services in England and Wales immediately "to review their practices and whether any existing licences need to be looked at again".

In February 2022 Davison's father Mark was interviewed for the BBC
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