A taxi driver has killed 12 people and injured several others before ending his own life in a horrific shooting spree in northern England.
Derrick Bird's three-and-a-half-hour rampage across Cumbria on Wednesday shocked police and locals who battled to try to understand what had driven him to kill.
Cumbria police deputy chief constable Stuart Hyde described the shootings, which left 25 people badly injured, as a "terrifying and horrific" attack.
"We can... confirm that from our current indications 12 people have lost their lives, plus Derrick Bird (the gunman)," he said.
Hyde said detectives did not yet know what motivated Bird but promised a full investigation into the gunman's history, access to firearms and possible motives.
"This has shocked the people of Cumbria and around the country to the core," he told reporters.
"We're not able to understand at this stage the real motivation behind it or establish whether this was a pre-meditated or a random attack."
Motive unclear Media reports suggested a row had broken out between Bird and fellow taxi drivers on Tuesday night, and that two of those drivers were among the dead.
Bird launched his killing spree shortly after 10.30am local time (1930 AEST), fatally shooting a man at a taxi rank in the seaside town of Whitehaven.
Armed with two guns, he is then believed to have headed south and shot more people in the towns of Gosforth, Seascale and Egremont.
Police warned frightened locals and tourists to stay indoors for their own safety, as reports of shootings began to come in.
A doctor, Barrie Walker, told of "blood flowing in the streets" as he attended to victims, while the local ambulance service said it received 51 emergency calls as the tragedy unfolded.
One resident, Gary Toomey, recounted how he found one victim bleeding on the doorstep of his home.
Desperate pleas for help
"I saw a car screeching off and a man saying 'help me'. He was bleeding heavily from the side of his face," Toomey told local media.
"He said he dived out of the way of the shot, and the man in the car pointed the gun down and shot him again in the back from about six feet away as he lay on the floor."
One victim, Garry Purdham, a popular rugby league-playing farmer, was shot while trimming hedges in a field in the village of Gosforth.
Witnesses said Bird had driven up alongside Purdham, wound down the window and shot him shortly before midday.
The body of another woman, believed to be in her 60s, was found by a man outside his house in Egremont.
Billy Boakes, 23, said he heard two gunshots before finding the woman's body and that witnesses had told him how Bird had apparently shot her at random.
'Huge sniper rifle'
"He stopped his car, got out the car, got his gun out, went up to her and just shot her in the stomach," he said.
"There were two more people just further down the road and nothing happened to them. It was obviously the case of him just shooting random people."
"She was just on the pavement with a couple of shopping bags in her hand."
Cyclist Barrie Moss was cycling home from Egremont when Bird aimed his weapon at him, then drove away.
"He turned around and stared at me and he had this absolutely huge sniper rifle," Mr Moss told the BBC.
"It was almost touching the floor, massive scope and everything.
Massive manhunt
"He scurried into the car and drove off and that's when I saw on the floor behind the car there was a woman lying down with bags of shopping and a handbag.
"I phoned the police straight away. [As] a friend of mine ... got next to her, he said there was blood all over her.
"She was still breathing but she was unconscious. Five minutes later she just stopped breathing."
Armed police, dog squad officers and a helicopter were scrambled in a massive manhunt for Bird.
Locals were warned to stay indoors, while the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, near Seascale, was locked down as a security precaution.
Gunman's body found
Police eventually discovered Bird's body in a woodland area near the town of Boot, about three-and-a-half hours after the shootings began.
Police believe Bird shot himself with one of two guns found near his body.
Hyde said police were investigating shootings at 30 different places across Cumbria.
"We are at a very early stage of the investigation," he said.
"We're not really able to understand at this stage the motivation behind it or whether this was premeditated or random."
Neighbours of Bird described him a "quiet sort of man" who lived alone.
Sympathy from PM, Queen
"He was a very placid, very quiet man, kept himself to himself, so I do believe something pushed him over the edge," local resident John Kane told the BBC.
Another 25 people were receiving treatment in hospital for a range of injuries, with three considered to be in a critical condition.
British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed sympathy for the victims of the gunman, telling the House of Commons that Britons would be "alarmed and shocked" by the shootings.
"When lives and communities are suddenly shattered in this way our thoughts should be with all those caught up in these tragic events, especially the families and friends of those killed or injured," he said.
Queen Elizabeth II said in a statement she was "deeply shocked" by the "appalling" events, offering her sympathy to the victims' families and saying: "I am sure I share in the grief and horror of the whole country".
Strict gun controls
European Union Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso also wrote to Cameron to express his condolences.
Britain has tight controls on gun ownership introduced after two previous mass shootings.
In 1987, 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot 14 people dead in the town of Hungerford in Berkshire, southern England.
And in 1996, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children aged five and six plus their teacher in a primary school in Dunblane, central Scotland.
Registration is now mandatory for shotguns and firearms, which must be kept in secure storage. Nearly 600,000 people in Britain legally own a shotgun, and just over 100,000 a firearm.
Handguns were banned in 1997, and semi-automatic and pump-action rifles are also outlawed.
