Police think suspected gunman still near rural town

LONDON – Police hunting suspected gunman Raoul Moat said yesterday they believed he was still in the vicinity of the rural Northumberland town of Rothbury.

Northumberland Police said they had eased a two-mile exclusion zone around the area but added that officers would still be on patrol and checking people and their cars as they entered and left the town.’Our message remains the same – if you see this man who has a distinctive appearance, call the police straight away,’ said Deputy Chief Constable Jim Campbell.Armed police have been searching for Moat, 37, since a shooting spree on Saturday. The hunt has centred on Rothbury after the discovery there of a black Lexus car he is believed to have used.He is suspected of shooting his former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart, 22, and killing her boyfriend, Chris Brown, 20, early on Saturday morning at her mother’s home in Gateshead, shortly after he was released from jail.He then allegedly shot and critically injured PC David Rathband, 42, as he sat in a patrol car a few miles away at East Denton, Newcastle.Police have been scouring the countryside around Rothbury but have yet to find their quarry.’We were aware a search of this open farmland area with many abandoned buildings and dense areas of woodland posed a particular challenge,’ said Campbell. ‘Despite a large scale search conducted by specialist teams we have not yet located Moat.’The search continues today as officers believe that Moat may still be in the area.’A 49-page hand-written letter, purportedly by Moat, to Northumbria police and published by the Sun newspaper on Tuesday suggested he was pursuing a vendetta against the force.In the letter, Moat blamed police for wrecking his life and destroying his relationship with Stobbart. He has also accused a member of Northumbria police of having an affair with her, an allegation the force denies. – Nampa-Reuters