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More of an FYI for people who don't follow the news than anything else.

BBC News - Gunman Raoul Moat kills himself

Video in above link. So weird to see police with guns, even on TV.

Quote:

Fugitive gunman Raoul Moat has killed himself after a six-hour stand-off with armed officers, police have confirmed.

Moat, who was wanted for shooting three people, had been on the run for a week.

He was discovered in the town of Rothbury in Northumberland, where marksmen tried to negotiate with him for several hours.

Background for those what don't follow British news:

BBC News - Hunt for Raoul Moat gripped the nation

Quote:

The Raoul Moat emergency began almost unnoticed on Thursday 1 July.

HM Prison Durham opened its gates and the former nightclub bouncer walked free after serving a short sentence for assault.

But the previous month, he had learned that his relationship with on-off girlfriend Samantha Stobbart was, finally, off.

He left a message on Facebook saying, "Watch and see what happens". The following day, the prison contacted police to warn them that they thought Moat might pose a danger to Ms Stobbart.
Major incident

In the early hours of last Saturday morning, Ms Stobbart was shot at a house in Birtley, Gateshead. Chris Brown, her new boyfriend, was also shot just outside the house and died from his injuries.

The next night Pc David Rathband, a patrolling officer in uniform, was shot through the window of his car in the west end of Newcastle. He managed to call for help - but his attacker fled the scene.

Detectives at Northumbria Police knew by then that they had a major incident on their hands - and there was no greater confirmation than the letter Moat left with a friend, detailing his grudges.
Hundreds of officers scoured the countryside for clues

"Last night I called 999 and declared war on Northumbria Police before shooting an officer," he wrote.

"Rang again and told them they're gonna pay for what they've done to me and Sam. I went straight but they couldn't let it go. The public need not fear me but the police should as I won't stop till I'm dead."

Over the coming days, Moat became Britain's most wanted man and kept on the move.

Day after day he avoided capture - while detectives tried to work out how to snare him.

Bit of a mess, good TV though.

well at least he's dead. The poor connection in this hotel doesn't allow videos to load very quickly so I can't watch the entire video. But, this shows how dangerous a clever criminal can be.

also what were the police wearing? that gear looked pretty bulky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by crisissuit3 (Post 5356434)

When chasing a smart criminal who has "declared war" on police and is evidently capable of shooting them while remaining concealed, you probably don't want to do so without body armour of some kind...

Not that you'd particularly want to do so to begin with, but I think I'd take the body armour instead of a t-shirt.

Heard a bit about it on the "news in brief" section. Sounds like the guy lost it, and I can't say I feel sorry for him paying for it with his life. Though I wouldn't have mind him answering for his crimes and spending some time in prison either.

It seems to me as if in times of economic crisis people like nothing better than reading a nice little story about criminals. I found a good one on BBC a few days ago about a boy who kept stealing planes and flying them around the US:
BBC News - Who is the 'Barefoot Bandit'?
The American criminal clearly beats the UK one: he doesn't look so brutish, he doesn't shoot people in cold blood, he outwits the police, he teaches himself to fly stolen planes and apparently does all this barefoot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheepeep (Post 5356493)

I know that but, it looks like they were wearing a trenchcoat as well. is it that cold up there?

Quote:

Originally Posted by crisissuit3 (Post 5356717)

I know that but, it looks like they were wearing a trenchcoat as well. is it that cold up there?

Welcome to Britain.

Weatherproof gear when out in a country village and it's surrounding harsh wilderness, again, not a bad idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FileTrekker (Post 5356723)

Welcome to Britain.

Weatherproof gear when out in a country village and it's surrounding harsh wilderness, again, not a bad idea.

I imagine that the idea is more "nature-proof" than weather-proof. They'll probably have been combing forests and such. Not the kind of place that you'd want to go bare-armed into.

The weather here at the time was... Acceptable, perhaps on the warm side of usual weather, but not by much. Now that he's dead, we have a heatwave...

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrFancypants (Post 5356713)

They just caught him. Sort of a modern day Catch me if you Can. Time will tell if he ends up parlaying it into lucrative book deal.

But on topic, how often do things like this occur in the U.K.?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor Dr. Scientist (Post 5356773)

But on topic, how often do things like this occur in the U.K.?

Apparently not often enough, to consider "often". As it was big enough news to post on these forums.

Going after an ex-girlfriend (or her new boyfriend) is one thing, but Moat apparently shot a cop. That is a serious thing to do, and I wouldn't expect it to be a common occurence.