A woman shot dead at a Kent pub on Valentine’s Day has been named as Lisa Smith.
The 43-year-old from Slough was killed in Knockholt near The Three Horseshoes pub shortly after 7pm on Friday, Kent police said. She died at the scene after being shot.
Her suspected killer is believed to have fallen from the Queen Elizabeth II bridge into the River Thames after the shooting. Police said they were continuing to search areas of the river.
Police said a car and firearm linked to the suspect, who was known to the victim, were later recovered next to the Dartford Crossing. Queen Elizabeth II bridge links Kent with Essex across the Thames.
The male suspect is reported to have been seen on the wrong side of a bridge barrier and officers are focusing efforts on searches to recover him from the water.
The landlady of The Three Horseshoes described customers “screaming, shouting and crying” as they realised what had happened. She told Sky News that she had been preparing for the Valentine’s dinner service when she heard two loud bangs that she initially thought were fireworks.
About 30 people were at the pub for dinner, while 20 more were in the bar as the incident unfolded just after 7pm, she said. “People were only just starting to sit down, it was early on in the evening.”
She also described how an off-duty firearms officer had intervened to bring the situation under control. She told the broadcaster the victim had been to the pub before but “wasn’t a regular”.
The senior investigating officer, DCI David Higham, said on Saturday that officers searching for the suspect were “not ruling out the possibility that he may have entered the water”, and said the force was “currently only looking for one suspect and do not believe there to be an ongoing risk to the public”.
