UPDATE: Littlehampton family’s devastation over dawn shooting

A LITTLEHAMPTON family has been devastated by the death of a 63-year-old man who shot himself outside his home and died while surgeons battled to save his life in a London hospital a few hours later.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Sep 2011, 17:36 BST

During a press conference at the major incident suite at Littlehampton’s police station, Det Chief Insp Nick May, of Sussex Police’s major crime team, said that the wife of the man – whose identity has yet to be confirmed – was “absolutely distraught” after the shooting. He added: “She is being supported by other members of her family.

“Police family liaison officers are with her and her family at the moment but clearly it’s an absolute tragedy for the family and we all have expressed our deepest sympathy for them.”

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During the press conference, police confirmed that three shots had been fired by the 63-year-old, from the garage roof of his home, in Peregrine Road.

No police firearms were discharged during the incident.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed about the shooting and will be investigating the matter.

Det Chief Insp May added: “It’s very unclear at this stage where the shots were fired. I should say at this stage that nobody else is involved in this incident and we have forensic experts at the scene.

“We shall be doing a very thorough post mortem with a Home Office pathologist tomorrow and we will be conducting a search of the area and all of those items will give us an opportunity to work out exactly what has happened and where the shots went.”

Diversions remain along Horsham Road and Peregrine Road and are expected to stay in place until later this evening.