Police hunt Killers of British Police Woman
By Raza Mumtaz - PakistanTimes.net Foreign Editor

LONDON (UK): Police are hunting for armed robbers who shot dead a police woman and seriously injured a female colleague in northern England, in a case that revived calls to arm police officers.

West Yorkshire Police chiefs vowed to "follow every line of inquiry" to catch whoever gunned down the officers, who were unarmed as they tried to foil a raid on a travel agency in Bradford.

The women, both in their 30s and in their first two years of service, rushed to the scene Friday afternoon after an alarm sounded.

Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan told a news conference that up to three men ran from the travel agency in the city center and opened fire on the unarmed officers as they arrived.

"One shot was fired by this group of men which hit one of the officers, which has since proved fatal," he said. "Several other shots were fired, one of which hit the second officer, resulting in serious gunshot injuries."

Both officers were wearing body armor, and neither was aware that there might be a danger of guns being used when they responded to the call, he said."Again, I reiterate they went unarmed and they were simply doing their job, trying to help people and protect people."

Blair Shocked

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary Charles Clarke expressed their "shock and sadness" at the shootings, which took place outside Universal Express travel agents.

The injured officer was shot in the shoulder, according to detectives, and had been able to provide information on what happened. She is being kept in hospital under police guard. The shooting has already led to calls for all frontline police officers to be routinely armed.

Fatal shootings of British police officers—the majority of whom are unarmed—are rare and Friday’s incident is the first death of a policewoman since 2001.

It also comes nearly two years after the West Yorkshire Police force’s patrol officer Ian Broadhurst was shot dead at point-blank range by former US Marine David Bieber.

Bieber, who fled to Britain after being sought in the United States on conspiracy to murder charges, was later jailed for life.

The death led to immediate calls from some quarters for British police to be armed, led by the film director Michael Winner.

He set up the Police Memorial Trust to honor officers killed on duty after female officer Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984.

"I think they should be armed," he told Sky News television. "It would bring them into line with police forces around the world. We’re the only country who pits these officers against viciously armed people with only a truncheon and a radio."●