Horden shooting

Horden shooting
Horden shooting
Location	Horden, County Durham, England, UK
Date	1 January 2012
Attack type	mass shooting, murder-suicide
Weapon	shotgun
Deaths	4 (including the perpetrator)
Injured	1
Perpetrator	Michael Atherton

The Horden shooting was a mass shooting in Horden, England, on 1 January 2012, also called the New Year's Day shooting. 42-year-old Michael Atherton shot his partner Susan McGoldrick, her sister Alison Turnbull and her daughter Tanya Turnbull with a shotgun, before killing himself.^[1] They were all killed in Atherton's home, where three others escaped from an upstairs window, one of whom had suffered minor injuries from the spray of the gun.^[2]

Background

Michael Atherton, a taxi driver, had a licence which allowed him to legally own firearms, six in total - three of which were shotguns. Despite having his guns confiscated in 2008 by police, they were later returned.^[3]

He was arrested for affray at a local club, and months later armed police were called to his home after he threatened to "blow his head off" to his family.^[4]

References

^ "Gun victims' family 'devastated'". BBC News. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
^ "Police name gunman and three victims in Durham shooting". BBC News. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
^ "Horden shootings: IPCC highlights Durham Police failings". BBC News. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
^ "Horden shooting family in gun control law petition". BBC News. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

[1] "Gun victims' family 'devastated'". BBC News. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

[2] "Police name gunman and three victims in Durham shooting". BBC News. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

[3] "Horden shootings: IPCC highlights Durham Police failings". BBC News. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

[4] "Horden shooting family in gun control law petition". BBC News. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2022.

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v t e Mass shootings in the United Kingdom
19th century	Stanfield Hall, Norwich (28 Nov 1848)
20th century	Tottenham, London (23 Jan 1909) Houndsditch, London (26 Dec 1910) Eastbourne, East Sussex (19 Aug 1912) Knowsley Hall, Merseyside (9 Oct 1952) Sheffield, South Yorkshire (1 Jan 1960) Smethwick, West Midlands (11 Nov 1963) Westminster, London (20 Mar 1974) Penmaenmawr, Clwyd (24 Sep 1976) Westminster, London (20 Aug 1978) West Bromwich/Nuneaton, Staffordshire/Warwickshire (26 Oct 1978) Westminster, London (17 Apr 1984) Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex (7 Aug 1985) Hungerford, Berkshire (19 Aug 1987) Southall, London (11 Nov 1987) Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire (8 Jan 1988) Monkseaton, Tyne and Wear (30 Apr 1989) Dunblane, Perthshire (13 Mar 1996)
21st century	Aston, Birmingham (2 Jan 2003) Cumbria (2 Jun 2010) Tyne & Wear/Northumberland (3–10 Jul 2010) Horden, County Durham (1 Jan 2012) Moss Side, Manchester (12 Aug 2018) Plymouth, Devon (12 Aug 2021) Wallasey, Merseyside (24 Dec 2022) Euston, London (14 Jan 2023)

Background

See also

References