Second man arrested over police killings

Agencies/London

A police officer and another woman read a card tribute after laying flowers close to the scene where two female police officers were killed answering a routine call-out to the Hattersley estate in Mottram, Tameside, Greater Manchester

A second man has been arrested in connection with the deaths of two police officers in a grenade and gun attack in Greater Manchester. The 28-year-old man has been held on conspiracy to commit murder following the deaths of constables Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes 23. The latest arrest was revealed by chief constable Sir Peter Fahy as he thanked the public for their support. Dale Cregan, 29, remains in custody on suspicion of their murders.Sir Peter said over 25,000 messages of support had been left on an online condolence page set up by the force. The unarmed police constables had been sent to investigate what appeared to be a routine burglary report in Abbey Gardens, Mottram, on Tuesday morning when they were attacked.A gun used during the attack on Bone and Hughes has been recovered. The force has received over 19,000 messages on Facebook and over 1,000 on Twitter. Sir Peter added he was impressed by the “great dignity” of the families of the two police officers killed in the attack.He said: “Both families separately said their loved ones died doing the job they loved”.Detectives are continuing to question Cregan, previously described as Manchester’s most wanted man, over the deaths.Earlier, police confirmed Cregan was on bail over a fatal pub shooting in Greater Manchester earlier this year. He had been freed because there had been insufficient evidence to charge him over the shooting of Mark Short, 23, at the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden, on 25 May. Meanwhile, Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers and a former police chief in Northern Ireland, warned against rushing into any move to routinely arm officers.The killings have reopened a long-running debate about whether police should regularly carry weapons like their counterparts in the US and other countries. But Orde told BBC Radio “guns don’t necessarily solve the problem.”“You only have to look at the American experience. Many colleagues in America are lost without even drawing their gun at close ranges.” He said it was the “clear view of the British police service from top to bottom” that they prefer to be unarmed because members of the public dislike approaching officers carrying weapons.Most police officers do not routinely carry weapons, although armed police do, however, protect sensitive sites and all forces have armed response units. An increasing number also carry Taser stun guns.