Jo Cox murder trial hears chilling 999 call by eyewitness describing ‘chaos’ at the scene of fatal shooting and stabbing
A HARROWING 999 call in which an eyewitness warned there was a gunman on the loose "shooting everybody" was played to jurors today.
Darren Playford described the "chaos" at the scene after MP Jo Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed outside a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire on June 16.
The jury has been shown CCTV footage of the moment Thomas Mair, who is accused of murdering MP Jo Cox, approaching the library where she was killed
The suspect made a quick getaway from the scene and Mr Playford tried to follow him, it was said.
But Mair, 53, gave him the slip and disappeared behind a pub, before reappearing nearby having apparently changed his clothes, jurors heard.
In the emergency call, Mr Playford said: "He is shooting everybody. Outside the library in Birstall."
Asked how many people were injured, he said: "I don't know. He stabbed someone as well, he stabbed a lady.
"He is following me at the moment. I am just trying to get away from him.
"He is walking now towards...get the helicopter, he is walking towards Huddersfield Road.
"He has got a black bag in his hand, he has got a white cap on.
"You might need the firearms. He is an elderly bloke, he has got a white baseball cap on."
He described the suspect walking by a pub.
Mr Playford continued: "He has disappeared behind the Vaults pub.
"If you hurry up, you will get him.
"There is chaos, he has stabbed people."
The operator said: "Do you know how many people are injured?"
He replied: "I think there's at least two. There's an elderly man been shot. A lady has been stabbed.
"I actually followed this guy to try and see where he was going."
The operator said: "Are you safe and out of danger Darren?"
He said: "I am, yes. He has disappeared out of sight.
"I don't know where he is.
"He could have gone in the pub but it doesn't look open to be honest.
"It is chaos."
Mair then reappeared apparently wearing different clothes.
Mr Playford said: "I can see him again. He has got a black baseball cap. He has got a grey shirt on.
"He is walking up Brownhill Road now. A black baseball cap, he has changed it.
"If you get a police car at the top you will catch him.
"I am still at the end of Brownhill Road."
At that point, Mr Playford said he had to return to his van as the keys were in the ignition, and the call eventually came to an end.
The jury also heard from Jack Foster, who told the MP's attacker to "leave her f***ing alone".
He parked his car in Market Street shortly before 1pm and visited a William Hill betting shop, before heading back out into the road where he heard shouting and screaming.
He said: "I saw the defendant with a gun. I shouted at the top of my voice, 'leave her fucking alone'.
"I saw Jo stood behind a parked car. Jo was stood more or less outside the library.
"I saw she got shot twice."
Asked by prosecutor Tom Little if the gunman reacted to his warning to leave her alone, Mr Foster said: "I heard him shout 'Britain first', or something along them lines."
The attacker wore dark clothing, a baseball cap and carried a holdall, which he put his gun inside, he said.
Julie Holmes, who worked in a cake shop opposite the library, described the chilling moment the gunman looked her in the eyes after the attack.
She said she saw Mrs Cox fall backwards into the road, and thought she saw the man punching the MP while she was on the ground.
Ms Holmes said: "I realised he was stabbing the lady. All over the top half of her body."
He briefly left, only to return and carry on stabbing Mrs Cox, she told the court.
She continued: "Just behind the car I could see something black, and he went to the bag.
"He came back with a gun in his hand, but not the knife.
"At that point I close my eyes and I heard a really loud popping noise.
"He did something with the top of the gun. And then he pointed it at the lady again."
Asked what he did next, she said: "He then took a step sort of into the road, and he looked around, and he looked towards where I was stood.
"And he looked me in the eye, and he lifted the gun - not pointing it towards me, but just in a gesture."
Mr Little said: "What did you do?"
She replied: "I ran behind the counter. All the time I was looking out of the window.
"I went to the door and locked it."
Mr Little said: "At that point could you see the man? What was he doing?"
Ms Holmes answered: "He went back on to the pavement, where the black bag was.
"He put something in it, two things, and he picked the bag up."
Earlier the court heard how Mair walked away 'as if he hadn't a care in the world' after shooting and stabbing Jo to death,
Witnesses described how the 53-year-old 'wildly slashed' at bystanders who had rushed to the aid of the 41-year-old politician as she lay bleeding in the road.
He then stood over the mum-of-two and blasted her in the head and body with a sawn-off rifle before the attacker 'just walked away', the Old Bailey heard.
The jury was yesterday shown grainy CCTV of the moment the Remain campaigner was slaughtered moments after arriving at Birtstall library in West Yorkshire for her constituency surgery on June 16 - a week before the EU referendum.
The Batley and Spen MP was shot three times with the specially adapted..22 weapon and stabbed 15 times with a dagger-like knife.
David Honeybell, who was planning to speak to his MP, said that as she lay dying in the street, her attacker 'just walked away'.
"It was as if he hadn't a care in the world," he said.
Stephen Connolly, who had also been inside the library at the time of the attack, said: "It was very cold. He just very coldly walked away."
Asked to describe the attacker, Mr Connolly said: "He just looked like a dishevelled old man to be honest."
Taxi driver Rashid Hussain had been dropping off a fare when he heard a noise like a 'firecracker going off' or 'fireworks going off' before the sound of 'people shouting and screaming'.
"Everyone was going towards the library. I parked my car there and went towards the library," he said.
"A guy was stabbing someone," the eyewitness continued as he demonstrated the stabbing motion to jurors.
"When I reached near, he stepped back. I said, 'what are you doing...what's wrong with you?
"He just started waving the knife towards us, saying, 'move back, otherwise I'm going to stab you'.
Mr Hussain said he stepped back when he was told the attacker had a gun.
"He shot once, moved back and shot again," he said.
The taxi driver said he saw Mrs Cox bleeding from the mouth as she was helped by her aide Fazila Aswat.
"Jo's head was in her lap and she's screaming, saying, 'Jo stand up', talking about her kids," he said.
Asked if he heard the attacker say anything, Mr Hussain replied: "He said something and the last words were 'Britain First'."
The court earlier heard that Mrs Cox warned her two aides to stay back and to "let him hurt me, don't let him hurt you" as she was brutally attacked.
Sandra Major and Fazila Aswat screamed and rushed to help and one aide swung her handbag to fight the killer off - but the the stricken MP urged them to flee to safety, jurors were told.
Senior caseworker Mrs Major told a court how she saw Mrs Cox shot in the temple.
She said: "She fell backwards onto the ground. There was all blood pouring down her face."
Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, asked: "Do you remember hearing a man say anything?"
She replied: "He did shout something out. It was something along the lines of, 'keep Britain independent', or 'British independence'."
She continued: "Jo was lying on the floor, and she sort of tried to sit up a little bit with her right hand.
"He just started stabbing her while she was lying on the floor, stabbing her, and Jo was trying to get away.
"Fazila was shouting 'get away from us, she has got two little children', and I was just screaming and shouting for help.
"She couldn't get up, but she sort of rolled over and sort of did a sideways roll and went into the road."
Asked if the man went towards Fazila, she said: "He went towards both of us because we were quite close together at that stage.
"He was making motions towards us with the knife, and Jo was lying in the road and she shouted out to us.
"She said, 'Get away, let him hurt me, don't let him hurt you'."
A 78-year-old, Bernard Carter Kenny, who bravely risked his own life in a bid to save Mrs Cox was also stabbed once by Mair, it is claimed.
The court has heard in the weeks before the alleged attacks Mair researched Nazis, the Klux Klan and Tory MP Ian Gow - the last serving MP to be murdered when he was blown up by the IRA.
He also searched the internet for Jo Cox, William Hague - another 'Remain' supporting Yorkshire MP - assassinations and shootings, jurors have heard.
Mair is alleged to have had a political or ideological motive for murdering Mrs Cox.
He denies Mrs Cox's murder, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon - a dagger.
The trial, which is due to last up to three weeks, continues.
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