Plymouth shooting inquest hears 999 calls from neighbours as gunman carried out attack

An inquest into the deaths of five people shot and killed in Plymouth has been shown police bodycam footage and heard 999 calls from neighbours on the day of the attack. 

Jake Davison, 22, shot his mother Maxine Davison, 51, at their home in the Keyham area of the city on 12 August 2021.

He then left the property and shot three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father Lee, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66, before turning the gun on himself.

On the second day of the inquests, a packed room, set up at Exeter Racecourse to accommodate the high number of attendees, was shown a video timeline by investigator David Miller from major crime team.

It included 999 calls from neighbours witnessing him shooting people outside his home on Biddick Drive.

One caller told police: “He’s gone up there shooting other people I think. Definitely an automatic weapon as he’s firing all the time. Looks like a black automatic rifle with a cartridge underneath. His front door’s open… he’s a massive bloke and has got a beard.”

Another tells 999: “He’s shooting everywhere.”

The jury watched dashcam footage showing a member of the public calling 999, a recording of which explained they had just seen a man with a gun and that they “heard a gunshot go off”.

CCTV footage was also shown of Jake Davison walking along roads in Keyham carrying the shotgun moments before he killed himself.

Police bodycam footage also shows an officer calling into a call handler. He said: “Male has shot himself in the head – male has shot himself in the head on Henderson Place.”

The jury also heard from senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Bentley from Devon and Cornwall Police, who explained how following the attack digital media investigators had downloaded data from a computer tower and mobile phones found in Jake Davison’s bedroom.

DCI Bentley explained that in the hour before the attack, Davison had been constantly online, including viewing content on Reddit about Incel members ending their lives.

Incel stands for “involuntarily celibate”, and is an online subculture comprised men who express extreme hostility and resentment towards sexually active people, particularly women.

The movement has been linked to at least six mass shootings in the US, however DCI Bentley explained there was no evidence of planning for Davison’s attack or any relevance to say these websites were an inspiration for this incident.