The body of a Liverpool man killed in the Cumbrian gun massacre will be brought to a city hospital morgue along with those of the other 11 victims.
Sixty four-year- old Mike Pike, originally from Garston, was one of 12 people gunned down by taxi-driver Derrick Bird on Wednesday.
The bodies of Bird’s victims will lie in the Royal Liverpool Hospital morgue, the North West’s emergency morgue facility, where staff will assist Cumbrian police with their investigation.
Eleven people survive the gun attack, five of whom are still being treated at West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May visited the hospital on Friday during a visit to the scene to meet survivors and emergency services staff.
“People are having to come to terms with the most appalling random acts that they will find very difficult to understand and in some cases there will be no proper explanation.”
“But I do think it is important to thank the emergency services and the police for all they have done and to recognise that.
“As people’s sadness and mourning will give way to a sense of numbness, then there will be lots of questions that people want to ask.
“We have to make sure that we find the right way to answer those questions and helping this community through what is to be a very, very difficult time.”
Detectives are now investigating whether a family row over inheritance and a £60,000 tax probe were the triggering factors behind 54-year-old Bird’s rampage.
In the last few days, Cumbrian police have been forced to defend their handling of the attack, insisting they had no chance of stopping the shooting spree any sooner.
Chief Constable Craig Mackey said: “At no stage did any police officer have the chance to end this any sooner.
“Our officers were on the scene within minutes but, due to Bird’s knowledge of local roads, he had fled in his vehicle and was travelling south, firing shots along his way.
“Police and RAF rescue helicopters were drafted into the area and a massive land and air search began.”
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