Plymouth shooting: Hundreds attend a candlelit vigil in memory of the victims

People were tearful as they gathered at a vigil following the fatal shootings in Plymouth.

Hundreds placed flowers and candles in North Down Crescent Park in Keyham on Friday evening to remember those who were killed by gunman Jake Davison.

Many began congregating while it was still light to place the tributes on the ground close to where the incident began on Thursday.

As it grew darker, mourners stood with candles in their hands, many given to them by a group of people at a table, while others shone the torches on their phones.

They paused briefly and stood silent, lifting their lights high in the air in a moment of unity following the atrocity.

A voice addressing the crowd could be heard saying: “We can’t do anything about what’s happened.”

Women light candle at a vigil for the victims of the Keyham mass shooting at North Down Crescent Park in Keyham, Plymouth.
Ben Birchall

As the evening went on, a sea of tributes were left on the grass – including notes paying tribute to the victims.

People could be seen with tears in their eyes and clasping their hands together, while others comforted each other.

Davison, 22, shot and killed his 51-year-old mother Maxine Davison, also known as Maxine Chapman, at a house in Biddick Drive in the Keyham area of the city on Thursday evening.

He then went outside into the street and shot dead Sophie Martyn, aged three, and her father Lee Martyn, aged 43, in an attack witnessed by horrified onlookers.

He killed Stephen Washington, 59, in a nearby park, before shooting Kate Shepherd, 66, on Henderson Place. She later died at Derriford Hospital.

Floral tributes and soft toy tributes left near Biddick Drive in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident Thursday evening.
Rod Minchin

Davison also aimed and shot at two local residents – a man aged 33 and a 53-year-old woman, who are known to each other – in Biddick Drive.

They suffered significant injuries but are not believed to be life-threatening.

Plymouth Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard tweeted images of the vigil and the victims’ names, writing: “Tonight our community came together to remember the victims of the shooting in #keyham.

“The past day has been one of the hardest for me personally and hardest for our city that I can remember.

“We will get through this, and we will do it together #plymouth.”