Officers shot at in armed siege to be honoured for their bravery

A police officer who was shot in the mouth during an armed siege and his colleague who administered first aid have been nominated for national police bravery awards.

Pc Steven Hull and PC Karen Irving were among officers called to Chapelgate in Sutton St James on January 31, 2012, to reports of a gun being fired.

A man, later identified as Barry Horspool, had locked himself in an outhouse after firing the shot and was threatening to kill himself and a police officer.

The man who had made the 999 call to police – Mr Horspool’s son-in-law – got his mother-in-law and daughter out of the house.

Armed officers and negotiators were called and initial checks showed that the man had previously been a shotgun certificate holder.

While those on the scene waited for the speclalist officers to arrive, a major incident room was opened and PC Hull and fellow officer PC Karen Irving were tasked to observe the house from a safe distance and report any developments.

The man was known to police, previously having been found to be extremely hostile and uncooperative.

The caller reiterated that he had heard his father-in-law shout that he would “shoot a police officer” and believed that the shot fired was a test shot.

PC Hull was in the driver’s seat, engine running, reverse gear engaged as a precaution when, without warning, the window shattered and a bullet lodged in his jaw.

Despite being shot, he managed to reverse the vehicle further away and PC Irving administered first aid.

Jon Hassall, chairman of Lincolnshire Police Federation, praised PC Hull and PC Irving for staying at the scene and keeping other residents from approaching the house.

He said they remained calm in the face of danger in order to protect members of the public and keep the major incident room updated until specialist officers arrived.

Tragically, Mr Horspool took his own life. No officers fired a shot and no members of the public or other officers were hurt.

Mr Hassall said: “Both PC Hull and PC Irving demonstrated incredible bravery in extremely traumatic circumstances.

“Despite being shot at they courageously remained at the scene until the ordeal was over.

“In a county of this size it is often the case that unarmed officers will arrive first at incidents like this.

“These officers put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public and it could easily have ended up with an officer paying the ultimate price.

“With ever decreasing officer numbers the public need to know that there are officers such as these who day in day out and night in night out will put their safety on the line to protect us all.”

This year marks the 19th Police Bravery Awards. The ceremony will take place today (Thursday) in London.