Fugitive gunman 'wants suicide by cop': Bouncer who gunned down ex and her boyfriend taunts police with 999 call after shooting officer

Massive manhunt launched to catch armed suspect

Gunman claims lover was in affair with police officer

Policeman shot in unprovoked attack



Police fear grudge against couple is now aimed at them

Suspect had 'previously threatened victim with gun'

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The sister of the young mother fighting for her life after being shot by killer gunman Raoul Moat said he would rather 'go out in a blaze of glory' than give himself up.



The shocking claim comes after after police launched a huge manhunt for Raoul Thomas Moat, 37, who allegedly targeted his former girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, 22, and executed her lover Chris Brown, 29.

Earlier today Moat shot and injured uniformed police officer in an unprovoked attack.



The burly ex-nightclub doorman would attempt to commit 'suicide by cop' than kill himself, said Kelly Stobbart, 27, the half-sister of his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart.



Kelly, who is in hiding, said: 'He's a coward and he hasn't got the bottle to shoot himself.



'He'd wants a stand off with the police, so they'll either have to shoot him in the knees or kill him. He wants to be known as a guy who went to prison because he shot a load of coppers or who died trying.



'He's a nutter and he's definitely not going to give himself up. We are all terrified that he's coming after us.'



Kelly, a mother of two young children, said she had not yet been allowed to visit Samantha, who is in a critical condition in hospital because of a long-running family dispute.



She said her 22-year-old sister had been infatuated with Moat.



'Sam thought he was the bees knees. Her problem was that she could not see above Raoul's chest. He's all muscles, rippling biceps, six pack," Kelly said.



'He's all chest but he had a tiny waist and could fit into a pair of my size eight jeans.



'He's got a face like a horse chewing a wasp. You wouldn't say that to his face though. He thinks he's God's gift but he's the most ugly thing I have seen.'



Kelly said that Moat had a jealous personality and that he and Sam would frequently row. She would then flee and stay with family members but Moat would sweet talk her into returning home.



'He'd come round and soft soap her and she'd disappear off and then we'd not hear from her for days because we knew she'd gone back to him and she knew we'd tell her she was a fool for doing it,' Kelly said.



She said that she did not know Moat had been released from prison on Thursday but said he had been jailed for assaulting a child.

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Describing him as vain, Kelly added: 'Raoul's completely unpredictable because of the steroids. He has to have them, he's addicted.



'He injects them and not only steroids, he also injects himself with tanning drugs to keep himself brown.



He would also wander around the supermarket with tiny skin tight jeans and sleeveless t-shirts, thinking all the girls were loving it.'



Kelly said Moat had contacts with the Newcastle underworld and believed they could be hiding him.



'He is involved with some very shady people and they will be hiding him out," she said.



He loves that fact that he thinks people are scared of him. He once threatened to 'car boot' my brother and bury him. He wants to be known as the big hard man. He's out of control and he'll never give himself up.



'Raoul's jealous that Sam got with someone else. He always said that if he couldn't have her, no one else would.



Asked if she had a message for Moat, the mother-of-two said: 'Either hand yourself in or do the decent thing and kill yourself.'



The 'unprovoked' attack on a police officer earlier today is being linked to a double shooting less than 24 hours earlier.



Senior police officers this afternoon revealed Moat had called them to claim Ms Stobbart, a young mother, was having an affair with a police officer.



They fear the grudge Moat held against the couple has now been switched to the police force which is hunting him.



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The former doorman was named as the man they want to question urgently in connection with both shootings, the first of which took place just a day after he was released from prison.

Temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim said: 'This was an unprovoked attack on a Northumbria police officer as he carried out his duty.



'We strongly believe that this was carried out by the same man who shot two people in Gateshead early yesterday morning.



'Raoul Thomas Moat is a wanted man. He is very dangerous and should not be approached by members of the public.

'We know that Moat held a grudge against the people he targeted in Gateshead yesterday.



'It is now believed that his grudge at the moment is with the police.'



Pc David Rathband, 42, a motor patrol officer, was blasted as he was carrying out a 'static patrol' on a roundabout joining the A1 and A69 in East Denton, Newcastle, at around 12.45am.

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The married father-of-two is currently being treated in Newcastle General Hospital where his condition is described as 'critical'.

Today, scores of forensic officers were investigating the Volvo patrol car the officer had been driving before he was shot.

During a press conference this afternoon, Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Anderson revealed Moat had spoken to officers around the time of the shooting of Pc Rathband.

'Yesterday you contacted the police and it is clear that you believe certain things to be true which I would like to clarify with you now.



'You have told us that the police are not taking you seriously. We are. I want you to know that you have our full attention, innocent people have been hurt. This must stop now.



'You believe that Sam was having an affair with a Northumbria Police officer. Sam has told us this is not true. Our enquiries have verified this.



'Chris Brown, who was shot and killed yesterday, was not and never has been a Northumbria Police officer or in any way connected with Northumbria Police.'



He said he knew Moat was concerned for the future well-being of his three children.

'For their sake, this has to stop now,' he said.

'These are not the memories that your children need to have of their father.

Enough people have been hurt. You need to make contact with us now.'



Mr Adamson said victim Chris Brown, who had moved to the area from Slough, had never been a Northumbria police officer and was not connected with the force in any way.

The karate instructor had only recently become involved with Ms Stobbart.



Ms Sim said that despite being seriously injured, Pc Rathband had managed to provide colleagues with extremely valuable information, 'demonstrating his absolute professionalism in the most extreme circumstances'.

The condition of the officer, who works in Newcastle, was described as 'critical but stable'.

'This was an unprovoked attack on a Northumbria police officer as he carried out his duty,' she said.

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'I have personally visited David in hospital this morning and our thoughts are with his family and colleagues at this time.



'Understandably we are all shocked and upset by unfolding events, but I want to stress how proud I am of every single officer and member of staff who is involved in this incident and the way they have responded to this incident.'



She added: 'We are absolutely committed to finding the man who did this.'



On Friday night, the day after he was released, Moat issued a chilling warning on his Facebook site saying: ‘Just got out of jail. I’ve lost everything, my business, my property and to top it all off my lass of six years has gone off with someone else.

‘I’m not 21 and I can’t rebuild my life. Watch and see what happens.’

Moat, who was released from Durham prison on Thursday having served a sentence for assault, went on the run after the shootings at around 2.30am yesterday and is believed to be armed and dangerous



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She was hit in the stomach when the gunman opened fire with a shotgun, blasting her through the living room window.

Miss Stobbart's grandmother Agnes Hornsby, 69, said Miss Stobbart would stay with her when things were going wrong with Moat, usually provoked by violence.

She said Moat turned up at her house in Gateshead one evening last year wielding a gun as he believed Miss Stobbart was with another man.

'He threatened us with a gun when she was here,' she said, 'All because she'd put on her Facebook that she was going out with a friend.

'He came here and said '"you've got a man in there" and I said 'there's no men in this house, it's me, Sam and Chanel.'

'He had a gun then and he was out there for about two hours and she was on the phone to him trying to calm him down.'

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Ms Hornsby said she told Moat she would report him to the police, but he replied 'If you phone the police I'll get some of them before they get me.'

She has not seen her granddaughter, who is her daughter Lesley's daughter, since she left in a hurry in June last year when Moat came to pick her up.

Miss Stobbart and Moat had been living together for around six years, she said, and had a daughter Chanel, who is around two years old.

Ms Hornsby said her granddaughter had been physically abused by Moat.

'He's got a violent temper,' she said. 'Once he loses his temper he lashes out, of course she was always the nearest one and then she used to come here.



'He split her head open one night. From what she told me he threw her against a wall and jumped on her stomach.'



Moat is believed to have killed Ms Stobbart’s new boyfriend - thought to be a karate instructor and nightclub bouncer in his late 20s or early 30s - on a patch of grass outside the house.

Terrified neighbours dialled 999 and police and paramedics rushed to the scene in Birtley, Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham.



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Yesterday Detective Superintendent Steve Howes, the senior officer in charge of the manhunt, warned people not to approach Moat.

He said: ‘We believe he targeted the two victims because of a grudge he harboured against them. This was not a random attack - the people involved are all known to each other.’

He said a team of 50 officers were involved in the search.

A friend of Samantha said: ‘All her family are at the hospital - she’s in a serious condition. Everyone is praying she pulls through this.’

Neighbour George Williamson, 50, told how his son came face-to-face with the gunman.

He said: ‘My son heard the shots and went out to see what was happening. Then the lad shot the girl in the house through the window. He then pointed the gun at my son, but turned and shot the lad who was lying on the field.’

Moat may be heading for France, Samantha’s family said last night.

Her grandmother Ann Hornsby, 69, said: ‘Raoul’s mum is French and I would have thought he would have gone straight back to France.’

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Moat and Samantha had a child together, Chanel, who is aged three-and-a-half. Moat has also two other children by former partner Marissa Ree. Mary Hall, 63, a neighbour living close to the scene, said she saw the gunman fire at the young woman through the living room window of her home.

Mrs Hall said she could also see a woman in the house screaming, apparently on the phone to the police, and thought it was the mother of the woman who was shot.

'The man shot through the window and shot the girl,' she told the Northern Echo. 'I saw a figure of a man with a handgun.

'It's all very shocking as there are a lot of old age pensioners around here and you don't expect this to happen.'

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Another local resident, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I didn't see it happen but I heard a few loud bangs that must have been gun shots.



'There was a police helicopter hovering around for a long time.



'It's a really quiet area, it's residential you know, so it's a total shock.'



The area around Scafell is quiet and residential, consisting of a cluster of houses and bungalows.

A police tent was this afternoon still in place on the grassy area at the scene, covering the spot where the man's body was found.

Around ten forensics officers could also be seen carrying out their investigations around the tent and at houses in the area.

A heavy police presence guarded various positions around and within the wide police cordon that included the green space, several houses and bungalows and many streets in the vicinity.



A number of residents sporadically peered out of the windows as the police carried out their investigations, but few ventured onto the streets.