ALDERSHOT – A four-year-old girl was shot dead by her father during a violent row between her parents, police said yesterday.
The girl’s mother, aged 40, was fighting for her life in hospital after being shot in the head. Police believe the 56-year-old man then shot himself dead at a house in Church Hill, Aldershot, Hampshire. Officers were called to the house when a neighbour rang 999 to report a row just after 10am.
Speaking outside the house Det Insp Darren Rawlings said they were met with a “very traumatic” scene. He said officers tried to resuscitate the girl but she was pronounced dead a short while later. The woman remains in hospital where her condition was described as “serious and critical”.
Insp Rawlings said the shootings took place as the woman dropped the girl off at her former family home. He said the couple split up about four weeks ago and investigators are not looking for anyone else. “This is a tragic death of a four-year-old child. What police are working towards is to establish the identity of those involved. We also need to find out why this has happened and exactly what happened in the premises this morning.”
He added: “At this stage the evidence would suggest it was a domestic incident. The person in the house has discharged a firearm. We are not seeking anyone else at the moment.”
Tool shop worker Scott Large said he thought the man who lived in the house worked in the building trade. “I knew the guy and he seemed a friendly, genuine guy who I used to say hello to and he used to be like that with everybody. I knew that he lived there with a woman and a child and I thought they were married because they had a kid together, but I don’t really know.”
Mr Large said he heard a commotion outside his shop at about 9.45 yesterday morning about 100 yards from the house. “One of the neighbours came up to me and said there had been some form of altercation and not to go near and, the next thing I knew, police and ambulances and the whole lot turned up. I really can’t believe it. This is a sort of dreary, dozy, quiet sort of place.” – (PA)