You won't see me again, 'quiet' taxi driver told friend

Officers working on one of the largest investigations ever carried out by Cumbria Police will try to get a clear picture of what happened on the night before the killings, when gunman Derrick Bird told a friend: "You won't see me again."

Last night, the hardest work had already begun, as more than 30 family liaison officers promised to work around the clock to support relatives of Bird's victims.

Friends and acquaintances of the gunman described him as "quiet" and said they were stunned by what had happened.

Peter Leder said Bird, from Rowrah, near Frizington, was "an outgoing, well-known guy, who everyone liked".

But when they spoke on Tuesday night, Bird had told him: "You won't see me again."

Whitehaven taxi drivers described him as a friendly, well-liked man who worked for himself and had been in the industry for more than 20 years.

But despite his popularity, they suspected his bloody campaign had been triggered by a row with colleagues on the cab rank.

One driver, who asked not to be named, said: "I don't know what caused it, but something must have happened.... Derrick Bird took off in his car and went home. I don't know what time of night it was."

Glenda Pears, owner of Whitehaven firm L&G Taxis, said Bird, 52, drove past one of her female drivers immediately after the first shooting, with a gun hanging out of his cab window.

"He was driving, and she saw the gun," Ms Pears added. "She was hysterical and had to pull over and stop. The gun was hanging out of the window."

A telephonist at another local taxi firm said Bird was divorced and lived alone.

He was said to be devoted to his mother, who is understood to have cancer, and is survived by two sons, one of whom became a father for the first time two weeks ago.

Deputy chief constable Stuart Hyde said that establishing how Bird got hold of the guns would be crucial as would knowing whether he held them legally.

"We want to clearly understand his possession of these weapons, what happened, what went wrong and why he decided to use these to shoot people," he said.

Mr Hyde added that investigators would be speaking to people who knew Bird about the days leading up to the rampage, as they attempt to piece together a picture of what may have

triggered the explosion of violence, the UK's worst mass shooting since the 1996 Dunblane tragedy.

"What we want to do is ensure we understand what has happened, speak to people about him, his life, what has gone on in the last few days, what might have turned somebody into a killer."