A British woman was shot to death Friday as her teenage daughter was watching, prompting the girl to run out of her home screaming, “My mum’s been shot! She’s dead!”
The Sun reports that the incident occurred around 11 p.m. Friday in the central England city of Newport. Witnesses to the crime said they saw a silver vehicle fleeing the area shortly after the killing. Neighbors told the media that the woman and her daughter had moved to the house several weeks earlier so the mother, who was in her 50s, could get away from an abusive former partner.
Flowers have been left at the housing estate where a mother was shot dead inside a car in Shropshire https://t.co/iSbT2qYww6
— Shropshire Star (@ShropshireStar) January 28, 2018
Police arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of murder at a farm about 20 miles away. A weapon was recovered. The man is being hospitalized for undisclosed medical issues and is under police guard, the newspaper reports.
The woman was shot in the neck and officially declared deceased at the scene, despite frantic efforts by emergency crews to save her. Neighbor Donna Campbell told the Sun that she was among the first to call authorities. She said she heard two loud noises and initially thought they were fireworks, but then she heard the daughter crying.
“I looked back towards the house and her teenage daughter was screaming ‘my mum’s been shot, she’s dead,’” Campbell said. “I rushed out to see if I could help. I gave her a cuddle. They had only been here for three weeks. It’s really shaken me. I feel so sorry for the family.”
Photos of the scene appear to show a Range Rover with a shotgun hole in its back window.
Sue Thomas, West Mercia Police superintendent, said the investigation is in its early stages and multiple officers are working on the case. She said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident, the Shropshire Star reports.
“At this time we believe the suspect and the deceased were known to each other,” Thomas said. “Our thoughts are with the family of the victim; they will be offered support by specially trained officers.”
A makeshift memorial of flowers has been placed at the scene, the Star reports.
[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
