Armed officers responded to reports of a number of shots being fired in Bexhill-on-Sea on Sunday afternoon (June 1).
Police were called to Turkey Road shortly before 3pm after people had grown alarmed by gunshots in the area. Officers attending discovered that a man had been seen firing a shotgun into trees from a garden and given the unusual circumstances, were treating the incident very cautiously.
Chief Superintendent Paul Morrison said:
“We attempted to contact the man, but there were problems with his home telephone, which delayed our efforts to speak to him. However, he eventually emerged from the house and it was quickly established that he was a licensed shotgun holder.
“We are now investigating whether any offences have been committed and if the gun was fired contrary to the licence held, albeit with no malicious intent to cause anyone any harm. We take these matters extremely seriously.
Those who are entrusted to hold a shotgun must do so responsibly and in circumstances such as this we will always investigate carefully to ensure that any licence holder is suitable to be in that position of trust.”
