A father has died after ‘shooting’ his girlfriend before turning the weapon on himself while their two young boys were in the home.
Paul White, 37, is believed to have attacked long-term partner Shani Cockrell, 33, in Bircotes, Nottinghamshire the early hours of this morning.
Two boys, aged around two and four, who are thought to be the couple’s children, were found unharmed inside the terraced property.
The couple are understood to have been having an argument before the shooting.
Shani, a mobile hairdresser, survived the shooting and is today in a serious but stable condition after being rushed to hospital.
Nottinghamshire Police officers found Mr White dead and his partner seriously hurt when they arrived at the home, around ten miles south of Doncaster, at around 12.50am this morning.
A spokesman for the force said a 37-year-old man was found dead in a bedroom after he had suffered suspected shotgun injuries.
He added that a 33-year-old woman is also thought to have been shot.
Neighbours said that the couple had lived in the terraced home together for several years. The house, which had a damaged front door, was cordoned off while police forensic officers carried out an examination.
Forensics officers were seen entering the house and photographing a blue Land Rover
parked outside today.
Friends said that Mr White was a licenced firearms holder.
The two young boys are today being cared for by the emergency services following the shooting.
Tiffany Carmichael, 25, who works in the local fish and chip shop, said: ‘They had been childhood sweethearts.
‘They’d been going out since school and been together all their adult lives. They aren’t known as a couple who row a lot. We just don’t know what’s happened.
‘He was licensed to have a gun. He would often go hunting with Shani’s dad, and I’m told they’d been out shooting quite recently. She is a lovely, lovely lass.’
‘Shooting’: Police forensics officers work at the scene in Bircotes, Nottinghamshire, today after a man died and a woman was found with serious injuries.
‘Shooting’: Police cordon off the road in Bircotes, Nottinghamshire, following a suspected shooting in the early hours of today.One local resident, who asked not to be named, said Mr White, a road worker known to his friends as ‘Whitey’, and Ms Cockrell had been together for a number of years and had two boys aged under five.
He added: ‘They were a long-term couple, but I hadn’t seen any hint the relationship had gone wrong.
‘Whitey was a road worker, and did tarmacing. His work sometimes took him away. His job kept him fit. He had worked on the roads for years.
‘He and Shani had lived there for about ten years. Shani did a bit of mobile hairdressing and had a Range Rover to go with the job.’
Neighbour, Dave Vaillancour, 72, said: ‘I didn’t really know the couple but I can say it is incredibly quiet around here. You only normally see dog walkers and children going to school.’
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: ‘A man who died at a house in north Nottinghamshire in the early hours of this morning suffered suspected shotgun injuries.
‘The 37-year-old was found in the bedroom of a house in Bircotes, at around 12.50am.
‘A 33-year-old woman found at the address was taken to hospital, also suffering from shotgun injures. Her condition is serious but stable.
‘Two children who were also in the house at the time were uninjured.
‘A post mortem examination will be carried out to determine the cause of death of the man who is believed to have lived at the address with the injured woman.’
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