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| Reeve was on medication. He had a troubled past, he suffered from depression |
Constable Ian Dibell, 41, was shot in the head as he intervened when 64-year-old Peter Reeve began firing wildly at a couple fleeing down a street in the seaside town on Monday in what is thought to be a neighbours’ dispute.
A family statement said the officer “selflessly went to the aid of people in desperate need without fear for his own safety”, adding: “He was what he was, a hero. He has paid for his act in the most devastating way.”
A massive police hunt for the killer was called off yesterday morning when Reeve’s body was found in the grounds of All Saints Church cemetery in the village of Writtle near Chelmsford 40 miles from Clacton. He had suffered a gunshot to the head and a handgun was found beside him. Reeve was seen pursuing a couple in the street on Monday. A 48-year-old man was shot and injured. Locals named him as Trevor Marshall.
The officer, who lived nearby, heard the shots and ran out of his house to chase the suspect down the street. The gunman is said to have turned and fired at him.
Father-of-two Dibell was divorced. His brother Neil is a serving officer with Essex police.
The Standard revealed that Reeve once worked at a local gun club, had a history of depression and had made threats to kill in the past.
Essex chief constable Jim Barker-McCardle said: “I can confirm Reeve, the man wanted for the murder of a serving police officer, was found dead, with a weapon in a Writtle churchyard and no shots were fired by the police.”
He added that a murder inquiry was ongoing and police were trying to establish the reason for Reeve’s actions. One witness saw the attack unfold and dialled 999.
Andrew Gallehawk, who lives opposite the scene of the shooting, said: “I saw a black guy running towards my house. Next there was a blond guy taking aim and made a couple of shots at him. It was like one of those Clint Eastwood type things where you have got the guy crouching slightly on his knees and he’s just taken a shot.
“The guy (victim) came out of the alleyway. There was a shot then another shot. He hobbled round the front of the house. The guy that shot him seemed to fly away in a blue car. He pulled up by the corner shop. Another guy flew past the house and that I assume now was the off-duty policeman. There were some more shots and then about five or six minutes after that there was a lady screaming in the middle of the road and then we had all the police.”
Reeve worked in the past as an unpaid handyman at a gun club in Clacton and took an interest in shooting.
Club owner Andy Riva revealed that Reeve suffered from depression and mood swings and had threatened to kill in the past, though no one took him seriously. Riva said : “I did not know him very well. He was on medication and I assume the problem was he had stopped taking the medication because no one in their right mind would do what he has done.
“He had a troubled past, he suffered from depression. You could tell from his mood swings if he was taking his medication. He would come down and chat with the shooters, the competitors, and if you talked to him he was a really nice gentleman.
“But he would lose it sometimes when he was in one of his moods. He did say things against people he had trouble with, he would say things like, ‘He’s going down’ ”