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Retired police officer and partner found shot dead in Devizes
Retired police officer and partner found shot dead in Devizes
(about 5 hours later)
A man found shot dead alongside his female partner was a retired police inspector of 30 years' service, police have said.
A retired police inspector has been found shot dead alongside his female partner at his Wiltshire home.
The pair were found dead at a property in Devizes, Wiltshire, on Saturday morning after neighbours heard shots and alerted the police.
Neighbours alerted police after hearing gunshots, and two bodies were discovered inside the porch of the terraced property in Devizes.
Detective Chief Inspector Ian Saunders said on Sunday that the man retired about five or six years ago.
The couple were named locally as Bill Dowling, believed to be 59, who retired from Wiltshire police about five years ago after 30 years' service, and his partner Vicky.
The detective confirmed that the woman was the man's partner.
Detective Chief Inspector Ian Saunders said neighbours had "overheard a number of gunshots from the address" on Saturday morning.
Saunders said the bodies had been discovered inside the porch of the house on the Moonrakers estate.
A weapon was recovered from the scene and police said they were not looking for anybody else in connection with the incident. Postmortem examinations were being carried out on the bodies.
"The investigation has so far identified that yesterday morning some neighbours overheard a number of gunshots from the address," he said.
It is understood that a neighbour made the grim discovery when he noticed blood splattered on a ground-floor window facing the road.
"The investigation continues to try to establish what led to this tragic incident."
One neighbour, who declined to be named, said she heard a single gunshot before 8.40am and thought it sounded "like a bang on my door".
"We understand him to be a retired police officer – he retired some five years ago from Wiltshire police service," said Saunders. "The female was not the wife of the retired officer; she is his partner.
She said Dowling, who is understood to have been divorced with two children, lived alone but was regularly visited by his partner. "People always say this, but they were both lovely, nice people. He was very friendly, would say hello and ask how were were," she said. "He was a good neighbour, and she seemed very friendly too. I just can't believe what has happened."
"We have recovered a weapon from the scene. My working assumption is that weapons were discharged and the victims had sustained some form of gunshot wounds."
Another neighbour said he believed Dowling had a firearms licence. "I have known him for more than a decade and he was into shooting," said the man. "I'd seen him load what looked like a big gun case into his car a few times, I think he went pheasant shooting. It was a big gun – it looked like it could have been a shotgun or something. He had long had an interest in shooting but over the last couple of months I saw him in his shooting gear a lot more."
Formal identification and postmortem examinations were due to take place later on Sunday but the couple were named locally as Bill Dowling and Vicky.
One neighbour on the 50-property cul-de-sac, who asked not to be named, said she heard a single gunshot shortly before 8.40am on Saturday.
She said: "I thought it sounded like a bang on my door. I didn't really think too much of it, so I went out to the shops. It was only a few hours later when I had a call from my son to come home that I put two and two together and realised what had happened."
She said Dowling lived alone at the two-storey property but was regularly visited by his partner.
The neighbour said: "People always say this, but they were both lovely, nice people. He was very friendly, would say hello and ask how we were.
"He was a good neighbour, and she seemed very friendly too. I just can't believe what has happened."
Dowling is thought to be 59, a few years older than his partner.
One man who lived nearby said he believed Dowling had a firearms licence.
He said: "I have known him for more than a decade and he was into shooting.
"I'd seen him load what looked like a big gun case into his car a few times. I think he went pheasant shooting.
"It was a big gun – it looked like it could've been a shotgun or something. He had long had an interest in shooting but over the last couple of months I saw him in his shooting gear a lot more."
The neighbour added: "It just doesn't make sense. They were a lovely couple, and he had recently spent a lot of money doing up the house."
It is understood police were called after a neighbour noticed blood splattered on a ground-floor window facing the road.
The man declined to comment when contacted on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon police were guarding the entrance to Dowling's garden at the front of the house, while forensic work was being undertaken inside a tent at the front of the terraced building.
On Sunday afternoon police were guarding the entrance to Dowling's garden at the front of the house, while forensic work was being undertaken inside a tent at the front of the terraced building.
Officers are not looking for anybody else in connection with the shootings.
