Man, 62, held over office shooting

A man has been arrested after a shooting at a solicitors office in Wiltshire
3 July 2012

A 62-year-old man remains in custody after a shooting at a solicitor's office left a man fighting for his life in hospital.

The family of the victim were at his bedside, police said, after he was shot in the head at the office of Morris, Goddard and Ward in St John's Street, Devizes on Monday afternoon. He was later airlifted to Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, by Great Western Air Ambulance.

Officers were called to the scene shortly before 3pm and a man seen driving away from the offices was arrested by armed police in the nearby village of Rowde a short time later, Wiltshire Police said.

The community had been left "understandably shocked by the events and we appreciate their co-operation", said a police spokeswoman.

"A weapon we believe to have been used in the incident has been recovered," she added.

"The male victim sustained life-threatening head injuries and was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital. His family are with him at the hospital."

The man arrested is being held at Melksham Police Station.

A number of roads around the Market Place in Devizes were cordoned off by police, who said they would remain closed while its major crime investigation team examined the scene.

Claire Perry, Conservative MP for Devizes, wrote on Twitter of her shock at the shooting.

"All thoughts and prayers with the victim of the tragic shooting today in Devizes, and his family," she said. "What an awful, shocking thing to happen."

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