Tributes to woman shot in Valentine's Day attack

Tributes have been left at the scene of a fatal shooting in Kent on Valentine’s Day.

A woman in her 40s was killed outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt just after 19:00 GMT on Friday.

Flowers and balloons – including one for “Wonderful Mum” – were accompanied by messages such as “rest in peace” and “fly high, pretty lady”.

Police said they found a vehicle containing a gun on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which crosses the River Thames, near Dartford. Detectives are investigating the possibility that the suspect entered the water.

Gareth Fuller/PA Media an aerial view of the Three Horseshoes pub and surrounding area where the shooting happened on Friday. A police car is seen blocking the road outside the pub. — The shooting happened outside the pub on Friday evening

Kent Police said they believed the suspect was known to the victim.

They also said call handlers received reports of a man “on the wrong side of the barrier” on the Dartford Bridge.

BBC/JO BURN A collection of flowers laid on the ground around some boxes of Red Bull energy drinks. — Flowers, balloons, messages and energy drinks have been left at the scene

BBC/JO BURN Four heart shaped balloons are tethered to a gatepost outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt. A green car is parked behind the balloons. — The woman was shot outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt

Rev Tim Edwards, vicar of St Katherine’s church in Knockholt, told BBC Radio Kent how he heard about the shooting.

“I had a text message from one of my church wardens” he said, “and my immediate reaction was ‘no, that must be a misunderstanding, that doesn’t make sense.’

“As I’ve spoken to people, that sort of feeling has been replicated.

“There is a sense of shock, that is the word that every single person I have spoken to has used.

“It just doesn’t feel real, this sort of thing doesn’t happen. It’s the sort of thing you see on television, it’s not the sort of thing you see here in your own village.”