What we know as victim of Valentine's Day shooting at a Kent pub named

Yahoo

17-02-2025

A woman shot dead at a Kent pub has been named by police.
Lisa Smith, 43, from Slough was killed outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt, Kent, on Valentine's Day.
Police have launched a murder investigation and said they believe the suspect, who is known to Ms Smith, "may have entered the water" at the Dartford Crossing after the incident where a car and firearm linked to the suspect were recovered.
In a statement on Saturday, Kent Police said: "Call handlers received reports of a man on the wrong side of the barrier and we are not ruling out the possibility that he may have entered the water. We are currently only looking for one suspect and do not believe there to be an ongoing risk to the public."
Here, Yahoo News explains what we know so far about the shooting and the police's investigation.
Officers were called to the pub near Sevenoaks at just after 7pm on Friday, where the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Michelle Thomas, who runs The Three Horseshoes, said she was printing off menus and preparing for Valentine's Dinner when she heard two loud bangs, which she thought were fireworks at first.
"There was so much commotion - screaming, shouting, crying. People were outside, on their phones. We tried to get people inside the pub to consolidate them," she told Sky News.
The pub landlady said around 30 people were at the pub for dinner, while 20 more were in the bar, including an "amazing" off-duty firearms officer who helped get the situation under control.
Describing how he heard "a couple of loud bangs" at the same time, local parish councillor Ray Picot told Kent Online: "I understand those inside the pub were ushered back to their houses by police as they were all in terrible shock. It sounded awful."
Fellow parish councillor Steve Maines told the BBC he heard a "commotion" outside the venue, and was told someone had been shot.
He said: "We were sitting having our Valentine's Day meal when all of a sudden we heard this huge commotion outside in the car park. We were told someone had been shot so we had to leave."
Dorothy Wong, who lives in the village, said: "I heard around three to four bangs outside and loud shouting from a woman's voice."
The force said the suspect, believed to be known to the victim, left the area, and that a car and gun were later found at the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, around 14 miles away from the Three Horseshoes.
Police later received reports of a man on the wrong side of the bridge's barrier, leading them to believe their suspect may have entered the river.
Neither the suspect nor the victim were from Kent but had local connections to the area, it is understood.
In a statement, the Three Horseshoes pub sent its "sincere condolences to the victim's family and friends".
"We also want to send our support to anyone else in the local and surrounding community who have been impacted by this. Please be respectful of everyone involved at this difficult time, thank you."
Forensic officers were seen in the pub's car park on Saturday examining a blue Seat parked by the pub's entrance.
The passenger side window was smashed, and what appears to be bullet casings were pictured on the ground.
While the suspect is believed to be known to the victim, no details have been revealed about their relationship to each other, or a potential motive.
Police do not usually name suspects before they have been arrested and formally charged unless they pose an immediate threat to the wider public, which investigators do not believe to be the case in this instance.
We don't know the exact circumstances leading up to the shooting, for example, whether there was a conversation between the suspect and victim beforehand.
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While a number of witnesses say they heard loud bangs, with Cllr Picot telling Sky News he thought it was a "car accident" at first and thought "nothing of it", no one is thought to have told the media about seeing the shooting first-hand.
The victim was named by police as Lisa Smith, 43, from Slough. The Three Horseshoe's landlady previously said she had been to the pub before "mostly in the summer", but was not a regular.
Describing Knockholt is a "really quiet area" where "everyone knows everyone", local resident Chris Warner told the BBC: "It's just so shocking that something like this could happen here."
Cllr Picot told Kent Online: "It's a shock. We've never had anything like this. It's a very busy pub - a great pub. It never has any trouble and is very well managed."
Another local resident, Vicky Hesketh, told Sky News how she saw "someone on the floor being given CPR by paramedics".
"It's like a really typical, normal village. Everyone knows everyone. It's not something you expect to happen," she said.
In a Facebook post, MP for Sevenoaks and Swanley Laura Trott said she was "devastated to hear about the incident".
"I know our community will be shocked at the news but this is a live investigation and we must allow the police to do their job," she added.
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