A GUNMAN believed to have shot dead an off-duty policeman said "I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I shot the police officer" before killing himself in a churchyard, it has been reported.
Peter Reeve, 64, made the admission before taking his own life in a churchyard about 40 miles away from where he had killed PC Ian Dibell the day before, according to a tabloid newspaper.
Gardener David Colyer, 76, told the paper he was just six feet away from Reeve when the fugitive shot himself in the head with a revolver. Mr Colyer called 999 afterwards.
"He blurted out, 'I'm Peter Reeve. I'm the man who shot the police constable in Clacton'," the gardener said.
"I realised I was standing before a killer. The man hardly paused for breath then said, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I shot the police officer'. He looked me in the eye. His voice wasn't trembling – he was calm. He was clearly trying to be sincere."
A huge police manhunt for Reeve was launched after PC Dibell was shot dead in the seaside town of Clacton, Essex, on Monday of last week.
PC Dibell, 41, was off duty when he intervened in a dispute between Trevor Marshall, Mr Marshall's girlfriend and Reeve in Redbridge Road, Clacton.
PC Dibell was shot dead, while Mr Marshall, 48, escaped with leg injuries and his girlfriend survived unscathed.
Reeve disappeared after the shooting and police launched a manhunt that lasted almost 17 hours.
His body was discovered near the rural All Saints Church in Writtle on Tuesday morning.
He had dumped his car near the murder scene the previous day. The Essex coroner's office confirmed on Friday that he had been seen shooting himself.
Reeve, reported to be a retired bus mechanic who was largely unknown to the police and did not have a firearms licence, is understood to have had several family members living near the church where he was found.
PC Dibell was described by Essex Police Authority as "an extraordinary man and an exceptional police officer".
"Very experienced and respected by his colleagues, he thought nothing of going to the rescue of fellow citizens who were in mortal danger," it said in a statement.
"He was off duty at the time. He is the finest example of the deep sense of loyalty and bravery in our officers, even when not on duty, to serve and protect the public."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article