Slaughter of the innocents

ON the scene . . . police forensic officers look for evidence

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AMID calls for police officers to be fully armed following yesterday’s horror, GMP Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said it was routine to send unarmed officers to a burglary call.
He said the force believed Cregan was in the property in Abbey Gardens, Hattersley, overnight.

Police workied under the assumption Cregan or someone else reported a burglary but because the address wasn’t known to officers, the two women were sent to the scene unarmed.

He said: “When they arrived, it appears that Cregan emerged into the road and killed these two officers. A firearm was used, a grenade was also used.”

The outrage prompted renewed calls for the routine arming of police.

But Sir Peter said his force believed “passionately” that police should remain unarmed, despite the tragedy.

The chairman of Greater Manchester Police Federation, Ian Hanson, called the deaths “the slaughter of the innocents”.

He said: “What we’ve got are two young girls who went out in the morning and they’ve got an absolute right to come home at night to their loved ones.

“This is cold-blooded murder. It’s the slaughter of the innocents. GMP is a family.”








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