Cumbria shootings: Gunman Derrick Bird was 'a nice lad'

A NEIGHBOUR of Derrick Bird, who police are searching for in connection with the a series of shootings in Cumbria today, described him as a "quiet man".

Derek Richardson said: "He kept himself to himself."

Another neighbour, Dorothy Taylor, said: "He lives up the road from me and is a taxi drievr. I usually drive past him in my car.

"It's an awful shock. I'm staying in. It's very peaceful and quiet round here.

"He was usually all right, quiet."

Glenda Pears, who runs L&G Taxis in Whitehaven, said both Mr Bird and the Duke Street victim were self-employed drivers – and friends.

She said Mr Bird (pictured) had been a taxi driver for 23 years and was divorced with two sons. She described him as a "real nice man".

She said: "We just don't know what's happened. The lad that's been killed was friends with him. They used to stand together having a craic on the rank.

"He was friends with everybody and used to stand and joke on Duke Street."

She said a female taxi driver working for her had to swerve to avoid Mr Bird's car immediately after the first shooting.

She said: "He was driving and she saw the gun. She was hysterical and had to pull over and stop. The gun was hanging out of the window. She's still shaken up because they've not caught him.

"We are just numb at the moment. We just want to know what he's done it for. He's such a nice lad. One of my drivers was talking to him last night. He was just working as normal and was going to go to Tesco's to get chicken."