Feud may have sparked Lake District massacre

The taxi driver ran amok in Cumbria killing 12 people including colleagues and random passers-by on Wednesday.

It is believed his first victim was twin brother David and reports suggest the pair were locked in a row over a will. Police confirmed that Kevin Commons, a local solicitor, was among the 12 victims. 

Commons, 60, worked at KJ Common solicitors which had offices across the region.

The massacre began with the first reports of gunshots in Whitehaven at 10.30am outside a taxi rank. Bird produced two guns - believed to be a .22 rifle with telescopic sight and a shotgun - and shot fellow taxi drivers in Duke Street, killing Darren Rewcastle. Bird was later found dead in woods near the village of Boot.

Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Hyde confirmed that Bird was a licensed gun holder. He said: "He had a shotgun certificate and a firearms licence for weapons but we do not know at this stage whether the weapons that we recovered are those he was licensed for."

It is understood that Bird held a firearms licence for 20 years, police said. More than 100 detectives are now piecing together the full sequence of events and trying to establish the gunman's motive.

As well as the 12 dead, 11 others were injured. Three remain in a "critical" condition in hospital and another five were said to be "serious".

Queen Elisabeth II said she was "deeply shocked" by the shootings and shared the nation's "grief and horror".

Bird's cousin Joy Ryan spoke of her shock at the mass killings. She told GMTV that Bird had been "chuffed to bits" about the recent birth of his grandson.

Hyde said there were 30 separate crime scenes and described it as the "most exceptional, challenging incident" the county had faced in a long time.