Terrified Plymouth resident told ‘smirking’ Incel gunman Jake Davison ‘what have you done’

Witnesses have spoken of their terror at being faced by a smirking gunman during his killing spree on the streets of Keyham in Plymouth, before pointing the gun at himself, an inquest has heard. 

Jake Davison, 22, shot five people dead during a 12-minute long attack on August 12 2021 during a killing spree that began with Davison killing his mother. 

The apprentice crane operator shot dead four more people, including Maxine Davison, 51, who was killed in her home in Biddick Drive, while three-year-old Sophie Martyn, and her father, Lee, 43, were killed as they walked home. 

Stephen Washington, 59, was shot while walking his dogs and Kate Shepherd, 66, was fatally wounded returning from the supermarket. 

A jury was told of Davison’s ‘deeply disturbing’ internet history, which included frequent posts about incel ‘ideology’ on Reddit forums.

In a Youtube video from April 2021, he complained about being called fat, saying: ‘This is why incels were more prone to killing themselves – or going on a killing spree.’

Neighbours of Jake Davison heard gunshots and went into the street to see what was happening and were confronted by him.

One resident asked the 22-year-old, ‘Jake, what the f*** have you done?’ before Davison walked towards him and began reloading the pump-action shotgun. 

Ben Parsonage scrambled inside his parents’ home seconds before the apprentice crane operator opened fire – blasting two shots into the front door. 

Mr Parsonage, who had previously worked with Davison for a scaffolding company, suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen, while his mother, Michelle Parker, suffered injuries to her arm and wrist.

Witnesses also described how an ‘extremely brave’ officer, who was ‘unarmed’ because faced Jake, knowing he he had gun and had already shot one person.

A police officer has spoken of the moment he confronted gunman Jake Davison minutes after he had shot five people dead to try to get him to give himself up. 

PC Zach Printer sprinted towards the 22-year-old while unarmed, telling him to ‘stand still’, hoping that he could talk him down, an inquest heard.

But seconds later Davison – who had his pump-action shotgun positioned under his chin – pulled the trigger and slumped to the ground. 

In a written statement, Mr Parsonage told the inquest he had gone into the street after hearing gunshots and saw Davison holding the weapon to his shoulder. 

‘I stood there and shouted, ‘Jake, what the f*** have you done?’ and Jake started to walk towards me and was looking at me as he did so. 

‘As he walked up to me, he was reloading the gun.’ 

Mr Parsonage said he ran back inside his parent’s house and pushed his mother to the ground and went to shut the door. 

‘As I shut the door, I can no longer see him, but I instantly heard a loud bang on the right hand glass panel and the inside the glass smashed. 

‘He fired another shot and the left hand panel was now smashed. ‘I could now see Jake through the damaged door, and he had a smirk on his face, like he didn’t care what he was doing. 

He looked focused, still stood in the same place.’ 

His mother told the hearing she could remember hearing three or four loud bangs. 

‘We all heard them and looked at each other but didn’t say anything. I just assumed it was fireworks,’ said Mrs Parker.  

She said she went to her kitchen window and saw two bodies on the pavement on the opposite side of the street. 

After her son Ben shouted at him, ‘he turned and he took a step or two’ towards them, she said.

‘I can clearly remember Jake’s face and he was looking straight at us, staring right through us. He had no remorse. 

‘All I remember is Ben shouting, ‘He’s got a gun’ and he turned and pushed me back into the house. 

‘I heard a loud bang and the glass in the door shattered.’ 

Mrs Parker said their family rushed upstairs but later went outside into the street and saw the bodies of Lee Martyn and his daughter Sophie and knew they were dead. 

In her statement, Mrs Parker said: ‘I would like to stay this incident has left me angry. ‘It appears to me that Jake had autism, was violent and had a firearm returned to him. 

‘I am scared. I am scared to open my front door or leave my window open, I’m scared to sleep without the bathroom light on. 

‘I shouldn’t have to do that, so I am angry.’ 

Another neighbour, Ruth Dowse, heard gunshots and went into the street to see Davison – whom she recognised – walking into the nearby Linear Park. 

Ms Dowse, a police staff investigator and trained first aider, said she phoned police to identify Davison and then went to assist Mr Martyn and his daughter but it was clear they were dead. 

‘At this time, I heard three or four more shots that were further away, and I think they came from the direction of Henderson Place,’ she said. 

 ‘A man asked me if I could look at two people who were in a house injured.’ The inquest also heard that Davison’s final victim, Kate Shepherd, was helped by van driver Stephen Randle and his son who stopped after seeing her calling for help. 

Mr Randle said they saw a man walking away from them and his son told him he was carrying a gun. 

‘My son said to me, ‘He’s got a gun’. 

This comment didn’t really sink in,’ he said. 

He told the court he followed the gunman into Bedford Street but could not see him and returned to Henderson Place. 

‘The police officers took over giving first aid to the female,’ he said. 

‘I estimate we had been around there for around five minutes when I looked up and I saw the male coming out of Bedford Street. 

Mr Randle added that the the police officer had told people in the street to run for cover, before immediately walking over to Jake. 

‘He was talking to the male in a calm and kind manner trying to calm the male down.

‘He was trying to get the man to put the firearm down. 

‘I thought this was extremely brave because I knew the police officer was unarmed and facing a man with a gun who had already shot one person. 

‘I don’t know how close the police officer got to the male before the male pulled the trigger. He then collapsed to the ground. 

‘The next thing I remember is two armed officers stood over the male pointing their guns at the male who was lying on the ground. 

‘It was obvious he was dead.’ 

PC Printer, a former Royal Marine regimental sergeant major and ex-police armed response officer, went to Henderson Place where he found Mrs Shepherd slumped in the doorway of a hair salon. 

‘Suffice to say Kate was severely injured and the medical kit we had with us as traffic officers was insufficient to treat that injury,’ he told the jury. 

‘We did the best with what we had, and we managed to attach a defibrillator to Kate should she go into cardiac arrest. 

‘What was good was that Kate was still alive. I could feel her breath on the back of my hand. She was clearly in shock. 

‘We tried to reassure her, ‘Kate it’s alright the police the here, we are going to look after you’.’ 

Pausing regain his composure, PC Printer said: ‘She tried to speak’.

As the officer and his colleague were tending to Mrs Shepherd, eyewitnesses – who by this time numbered several teenagers and passing motorists – realised Davison had returned to Henderson Place. 

‘There were sudden shouts, screaming, ‘He’s back, he’s back. He’s got a gun’,’ PC Printer said. 

‘I turned to my left and saw a figure walk from Bedford Street onto Henderson Place. 

‘He was a large built individual wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He was a carrying a shotgun – I knew it was a shotgun from my firearms experience. 

‘I got up and started running towards him. I shouted, ‘Stand still’. 

‘My thoughts were I needed to protect the public, I needed to protect my colleagues and I also needed to protect Jake. 

‘He was obviously going through massive trauma because of what happened that day. 

‘If I could have got closer, I might have been able to negotiate and talk him down. 

‘I got within 20 metres or so and the shotgun was positioned under his chin, and he pulled the trigger. 

‘I sprinted to Jake but he had suffered catastrophic injuries which were clearly non-survivable and the shotgun was lying at his feet.’ 

PC Printer said a police patrol car arrived at the scene, closely followed by another car with two armed officers inside. 

He said he shouted at the armed officers, ‘Catastrophic head wound’ and indicated Davison was dead. 

‘They would have been put in the unenviable position of not knowing if Jake was alive and having to deal with him,’ he said.

By this time paramedics had arrived and were working on Mrs Shepherd. 

Bridget Dolan KC, counsel to the inquest, asked PC Printer why he approached Davison.

‘There were clearly members of the public present in the street in Henderson Place and I have alluded to my role as a police officer to protect the public as best I could,’ he said. 

‘I had no choice – I had to confront him to protect the public and to do that I had to become the focus of his attention in his eyes. 

‘I also saved two firearms officers from having to shoot him.’