A police officer has been shot in an incident linked to a shooting in which a man was killed and his partner critically injured.



Raoul Moat has only recently been released from jail and is believed to be armed

A manhunt is underway for Raoul Thomas Moat who is believed to have shot and injured his ex-girlfriend and killed her new lover.


This morning Northumbia Police announced that a police officer had been shot and seriously injured in an unprovoked attack.


Detectives that the two incidents are linked and are urging the public not to approach Moat.


The 37-year-old, from Newcastle, was only released from Durham prison on Thursday having served a sentence for assault.



Facebook pic of Samantha Stobbart was injured alongside her partner

Detective Superintendent Steve Howes said the fatal attack at a house in Scafell, Birtley, near Gateshead, was motivated by a grudge against the couple.


It is believed that Moat - reportedly a former nightclub bouncer - was previously in a relationship with the injured woman, named locally as Samantha Stobbart.


Ms Stobbart was in the house in Scafell with her current partner when the shooting took place at around 2.40am yesterday.


Emergency services arrived at the house to find a man lying on a grassy area opposite the house.


The man, who is believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s and has not been named, was pronounced dead at the scene.


Sources said Ms Stobbart was shot through the living room window of her home. She is currently in a critical condition.


This incident is said to have prompted her partner to leave the house and he was shot dead around 50 metres from the front door.






Det Supt Howes said: "I would like to stress that this is not a random attack and that the people involved are all known to each other.


"We believe the offender targeted his victims because of a grudge he held against them."


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.


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


Raoul Thomas Moat: Manhunt For Gunman Who Shot Ex Samantha Stobbart And Killed Her New Lover | UK News | Sky News