The Plymouth Shootings

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David Atkinson

Sam Emmery

Fran Baker

Holly Doyle

Lindsay Konieczny

Julie Scott

Firecracker Films

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BBC Three - The Plymouth Shootings

How did a seemingly normal young man turn into one of Britain’s most lethal killers?

On 12 August 2021, Jake Davison shot and killed five people before turning the gun on himself. How did a seemingly normal young man turn into one of Britain’s most lethal killers?

On 12 August 2021, a 22-year-old Jake Davison shot and killed five people in a quiet cul-de-sac in Plymouth before turning the gun on himself. It was the worst mass shooting on British soil in over a decade and the first of the digital age. 
 
But how did a seemingly normal kid from a small town on the south coast of England turn into one of Britain’s most lethal killers?
 
In the months leading up to the shootings, Davison uploaded a series of videos and posts on internet forums that chart his deteriorating state of mind and alienation from those around him. 
 
This digital legacy, alongside interviews with people who knew him, those close to the victims and others connected to the case, gives some insight into why this tragic event happened. 
 
The documentary explores Davison’s connection to the incel movement, a deeply misogynistic ideology that is growing at an alarming rate and has been linked to violent extremism.
 
The programme also raises questions about how ‘troubled kids’ are supported and monitored and will expose a series of missed opportunities and a catalogue of failures that allowed a dangerous individual to remain in possession of a legal firearm.

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