British fugitive shoots dead two unarmed policewomen

[brassmonkey]

sometimes you need a gun

LONDON (Reuters) - One of Britain's most wanted fugitives killed two unarmed policewomen on Tuesday in a gun and grenade ambush, police said, killings which are likely to reignite a long-running debate over whether British officers should carry guns.

Police constables Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, were gunned down in a hail of bullets after responding to a hoax call about a burglary in the northern English city of Manchester.

Despite shock over the murders, described by Prime Minister David Cameron as "despicable", senior police officers said they were determined that the British force would remain one of few in the world which is not routinely armed.

Police said the two constables, one of whom was about to be married, had been deliberately lured into a trap by Dale Cregan, 29, a suspect in another double killing in the city. Cregan handed himself into a local police station after the shooting.

Either Cregan or an associate made the false burglary report to lure the officers to the scene, said Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Peter Fahy.

"Then he has come out and shot and killed them both," Fahy told reporters, adding Cregan also threw a grenade at them.

"Certainly, it would appear to be that he has deliberately done this in an act of absolutely cold-blooded murder. It's almost impossible to fathom such an evil act."

Fahy did not offer any possible motive for the ambush.

Witnesses reported hearing more than a dozen shots and an explosion. One of the officers died at the scene and the other in hospital, police said.

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