BEN McCONVILLE
Associated Press Writer
WHITEHAVEN, England – British detectives searched for clues Thursday to the motive behind a taxi driver’s murderous rampage in a tranquil part of rural England that left 12 people dead and more than two dozen wounded before he committed suicide.
More than 100 officers were scrutinizing why suspected gunman Derrick Bird, 52, decided to go on a three-hour shooting spree in the northwestern county of Cumbria, officials said.
Some reports said Bird had argued with fellow cab drivers the night before the killings; others suggested a family dispute. But Cumbria police said the process of piecing together Bird’s movements and ascertaining a motive is “a difficult and slow process and we would ask the public and the media to be patient whilst we carry out our thorough investigation to ascertain the facts around this tragic incident.”