Police chief: Fatal shooting of two Greater Manchester Police officers may have been an ambush
12:46pm Tuesday 18th September 2012 in News
TWO Greater Manchester Police officers shot dead this morning may have been ambushed, police say.
Two unarmed female police officers, Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes, were killed in a gun and grenade attack in Tameside this morning.
Dale Cregan, a wanted man who has for the last two months been the focus of GMP's biggest ever manhunt, handed himself in to police shortly after the incident by walking in to Hyde police station.
Ch Con Peter Fahy said police believe either Cregan or someone known to him called police to report a burglary at the house where Cregan lay in wait.
It is then thought that he came out of the house, in Abbey Gardens, Hattersley, and attacked the two unarmed officers.
It has been reported that 13 shots were fired and a grenade was thrown.
Mr Fahy paid tribute to PC Bone, aged 32, and PC Hughes, aged 23, at a press conference this afternoon.
PC Bone, who was in the process of organising her wedding, was said to have been quiet and reserved, but with a great sense of humour, and other officers loved working with her because she was calm, collected and professional.
PC Hughes was described as bubbly and a chatterbox who enjoyed karate. She was said to be always smiling, even after a long night shift when everyone else was grumpy.
Cregan, aged 29, was being sought in connection with separate gun and grenade attacks that killed a father and son.
He has been arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder in relation to the investigations into the murders of David Short and Mark Short.
He has also been arrested on suspicion of the murder of PCs Hughes and Bone.
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: "This is a heartbreaking time for the officers' families and colleagues and our thoughts are with them.
"This is a tragic day for the whole force and we are currently piecing together exactly what happened this morning.
"I understand that the community will be fearful as they hear news of what has happened this morning.
"We have armed officers patrolling the area and we will aim to keep people updated as much as we can."
He added: "A long and dark shadow has been cast across Greater Manchester and my thoughts are with the officers' family, friends and colleagues.
"We will be doing everything we can to support them over the coming days and weeks."
Comments(14)
macauley
says...
3:13pm Tue 18 Sep 12
chicco wrote:slapped wrist he will get.we are to soft.
RIP thank you for your service and trying to protect the community.
JustBecause
says...
3:40pm Tue 18 Sep 12
JustBecause
says...
3:43pm Tue 18 Sep 12
To all the GMP officers out there stay safe.
oftbewildered2
says...
12:04am Wed 19 Sep 12
Jazzman200
says...
3:58am Wed 19 Sep 12
Jazzman200
says...
3:58am Wed 19 Sep 12
lifes issues
says...
5:25am Wed 19 Sep 12
berushka
says...
11:56am Wed 19 Sep 12
JustBecause wrote:Yes, Yes, Yes. Being a Police Officer does bring certain risks, but at least in the UK young ladies look like ladies, smart, clean, tidy , often beautiful but most of all, professional. Unlike in some countries, my adopted one unfortunately included, where they are often slovenly dressed, untidy in appearance and carrying a side-arm that looks too big for them to handle.
Bring back the death penalty, this "thing" of a human does not deserve to live.
Whatever your thoughts are on law and order, we should all respect these guardians of the laws of Britain and be thankful that they do not hide behind weapons to carry out their duties. Some people give up their right to be considered a member of human society and should therefore be removed from it; this animal who murdered these two young ladies is one of them and should be removed forthwith.
lifes issues
says...
5:06pm Fri 21 Sep 12
tlksense
says...
12:08pm Sat 22 Sep 12
Jazzman200 wrote:be prepared to be surprised then because apparently voice analysis was carried out which matched cregans.....another point i might add is that if he was to walk into a police station shooting ,theres no police on the front desks any more there civilian workers and secondly most of the larger police stations have an armoury/gun room for firearms officers to withdraw lethal and non lethal weapons. hes a coward and knew by handing himself in unarmed ,(before a firearms unit could get to him and fill him with lead) would be his only way of surviving
I'd be surprised if this was an ambush. A wanted man rings the police up to come to him so he could shoot two officers? What for? If he wanted to kill policeman then he could of walked into any police station and shot it up and killed far more if that was his intention. I would have thought the more likely scenario is someone has called the police in order to get the wanted man caught (could be gang rival or someone who wants to claim reward) This is gang related.... wanted man then walks into police station, again what for? Probably because he knows he's a dead man walking , police are after him and so are probably elements of the Manchester underworld. Rest of life in prison or death? Sad reality of some of the worst aspects of our society that most do not see or want to see.
lindlandl
says...
1:35am Sun 23 Sep 12
lifes issues wrote:Apparently the vast majority of police officers do not want to be armed and many say they would leave the force if they were required to be. Being armed wouldn't have saved the two police officers last week anyway. Interestingly, perhaps, more police officers in the USA die as a result of accidents with their own fire arms than are killed by armed criminals. Drug dealers and gangs also often have knives and, evidently, grenades are becoming more popular so according to the logic of our police having guns, they should have these too! I think not.
I am so sad over this case of unwanted vilance against police officers .i know it is a tradition that police officers do not cary firarms .however as it is well proved the drug dealers and gangs do it is time our brave officers where armed .come people let patition this right for police officers
Lancashire always
says...
3:16pm Sun 23 Sep 12
Mark Ashy Detroit
says...
3:05am Mon 24 Sep 12
lindlandl wrote:Wrong, wrong, wrong, were did you pull that little gem from, oh wait I know. He was determined, and I doubt they could have shot him if he had the drop on them, you can unload 6 shots before someone could draw, i know, I shoot occasionally. The police again and again manage to shoot many civilians who are armed but don't manage to get off 1 shot, oh wait a minute, that's cause most of them are actually unarmed and are ambushed by the police, but that is never really told as a sympathetic story is it. I think Cregan is dead wrong, but I think the cops are dead wrong and are never held accountable either, truly sorry for the families of all the victims of gun crime. Stop sheltering the killer cops, hold them accountable when unarmed civilians are shot and killed just like we are going to hold this scumbag Cregan accountable, one law for all !
lifes issues wrote:Apparently the vast majority of police officers do not want to be armed and many say they would leave the force if they were required to be. Being armed wouldn't have saved the two police officers last week anyway. Interestingly, perhaps, more police officers in the USA die as a result of accidents with their own fire arms than are killed by armed criminals. Drug dealers and gangs also often have knives and, evidently, grenades are becoming more popular so according to the logic of our police having guns, they should have these too! I think not.
I am so sad over this case of unwanted vilance against police officers .i know it is a tradition that police officers do not cary firarms .however as it is well proved the drug dealers and gangs do it is time our brave officers where armed .come people let patition this right for police officers
chicco says...
1:51pm Tue 18 Sep 12