Cumbrian shootings: Police seek motive for Derrick Bird's rampage

• Derrick Bird is reported to have aimed at the heads of victims. Picture: PA

As the heartbroken families of the victims of the Cumbrian gun massacre awoke yesterday to a new life without their loved ones, police began the arduous task of determining why grandfather Derrick Bird had embarked on the UK's worst shooting incident since the Dunblane tragedy.

Police believe the 52-year-old deliberately targeted some of his 12 victims in "grudge" attacks, yet indiscriminately shot others he beckoned towards him.

Last night it emerged that he may have been facing a 60,000 tax investigation, instigated by his brother and first victim David Bird, and feared he may be jailed for tax evasion.

Bird's friend Mark Cooper said: "He had this 60,000 in his bank and the tax man had found out. He was terrified he was going to go to prison.

"It had been going on for six months but he only told me a fortnight ago. I had never seen him bothered about anything before."

Relatives of Bird, who was a licensed gun owner, last night denied suggestions that a family feud may have prompted the slaughter, but detectives are investigating financial and domestic pressures faced by Bird, a taxi driver. Even so, they admitted that his suicide may mean all the answers can never be fully known.

At least three of Bird's victims – his twin brother David, Kevin Commons, the Bird family solicitor, and Darren Rewcastle, a fellow taxi driver – were known to him, leading to speculation on his motives.

However, the daughters of David Bird, believed to be the first victim, denied reports that their father and uncle were caught up in a dispute over the will of their mother, Mary, or other financial worries.

"There was absolutely no family feud," said the killer's nieces, Rachel, Tracey and Katie Bird. "Our dad's only downfall was to try and help his brother."

Bird's cousin, Joy Ryan, said the mass murderer's 90-year-old mother, who has recently suffered a series of strokes, was "stunned" by the massacre. "She just couldn't make sense of it," said Ms Ryan. "She kept saying she wanted to talk to them, she wanted to talk to her sons."

While Bird's fellow taxi drivers said the divorced father of two seemed stressed of late, and may have had financial problems, some played down speculation that he became enraged by the practice of taxis jumping the queue.

Whatever the motive, he took the lives of ordinary Cumbrians going about their daily lives – farm workers, a cyclist, a door-to-door saleswoman.

In addition to those known to him, Bird's victims included Kenneth Fishburn, a retired security guard; Susan Hughes, a 57-year-old mother-of-two; James and Jennifer Jackson, a retired couple; Isaac Dixon, a part-time mole catcher; Garry Purdham, 31, a rugby league player and farmer; Michael Pike, a 64-year-old out cycling; Jane Robinson, a 66-year-old who lived with her twin sister; and Jamie Clark, 23, an estate agent.

Across harbour towns and quaint villages, the families of the dead and 11 others who were hospitalised comforted one another, or laid flowers where their loved ones died.

Bird's two sons, Graeme, 28, and Jamie, 16, visited their mother, and Bird's ex-wife Linda Mills at her home in Lamplugh.

Throughout the county, Cumbria Police continued to piece together the sequence of events. Split into five teams, more than 100 detectives examined 30 individual crime scenes, painstakingly scouring streets and fields across a 35-mile stretch of the picturesque county.

As more remarkable and chilling eyewitness accounts emerged of Bird's bloody final hours, so did gruesome detail.

One senior medic who treated several of the victims disclosed that many appeared to have been shot in the face.

"It appears this gentleman was firing out of a car window at head height," said Charles Brett, clinical director of emergency services at Whitehaven's West Cumberland Hospital. "It is clear that he was directing at the face and head."

In Westminster, meanwhile, the bloodbath prompted fresh debate over gun legislation.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who will visit Cumbria today with Home Secretary Theresa May, cautioned against "knee-jerk" demands for tougher gun laws to be introduced in the aftermath of the "appalling suffering".

He said: "Of course we have to do everything we can to stop these dreadful events, but you can't legislate to stop a switch flicking in someone's head and for this dreadful sort of action to take place."

However, Alan Johnson, the shadow home secretary, said a tightening of checks needed to be considered, possibly involving the introduction of mental health assessments.

Sir Ian Blair, the former head of Scotland Yard, suggested the government start asking relatives, neighbours and workmates of applicants whether they were fit individuals to use guns.

He said seeking the approval of doctors, firearms officers and magistrates was a "rather limited" system.

Cumbria Police Detective Chief Superintendent Iain Goulding said the force was "absolutely determined" to understand Bird's motives.

He said: "A key part of the 'why' in this investigation is trying to establish whether those killed were chosen because of a motive, because of a grudge or were simply random killings. Our initial assessment is we have a combination of both. But I'm not speculating further at this time."

He added: "It may not be possible to establish all the answers because we cannot speak to Derrick Bird."

Bird, who was raised in the tranquil village of Ennerdale Bridge, had no record of mental health problems or medication.

He was convicted of theft in the 1990, and as a result lost his job at British Nuclear Fuels. The minor nature of the offence, however, meant he did not serve a prison term, instead receiving a 12-month suspended sentence.

He was allowed to obtain a licence for a shotgun in 1995 and a firearms licence for a .22 rifle, which he fitted with a telescopic sight, in 2007. Both types of weapon were used in Wednesday's killings.

The latter licence granted him permission to shoot vermin and carry out recreational target practice and police said that, as part of the licensing procedure, he would have been visited at home.

First Minister Alex Salmond spoke of his "shock" at the killings, which echoed the Dunblane massacre 14 years ago.

He said: "Scotland has had its own experience of tragedy on this scale and just as our thoughts remain with those affected by the appalling crimes, our sympathies today are with the families and friends of victims of yesterday's shootings."

Mr Salmond also praised the work of authorities north of the Border in helping Cumbria Police – Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary deployed an armed response unit and took over motorway policing duties in Cumbria, while the Scottish Police Authority provided scenes-of-crime officers to help with forensic work.

Support also came from the community of Hungerford, which still bears the scars of Michael Ryan's attack in 1987, which killed 16 people.

Authorities in the Berkshire town have contacted their counterparts in Cumbria, offering advice and information.

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