Neighbours heard shouting and 'bangs' as two men shot dead in different villages
Neighbours say they heard shouting and "bangs" as a dad was shot dead after his son was killed in a separate village just six miles away.
Cambridgeshire Police raced to reports of gunshots at a property in Meridian Close, Bluntisham just after 9pm on Wednesday.
Officers arrived to find the body of a 32-year-old man inside a property with a gunshot wound and are now treating his death as murder.
The force said that at 9.37pm, police received a call from a person in Sutton, near Ely, again reporting hearing gunshots, and found the body of a 57-year-old man with gunshot wounds at a property in The Row.
A 27-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man have since been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
Two men shot dead in 'linked incidents' in different villages as three arrested
One witness, who lives near two semi-detached houses that have been sealed off in Sutton, has now told of seeing police cars “racing down” to the scene and armed officers shouting last night.
Police outside one of the properties in Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire, this morning (PA)Gordon Murray said officers later asked him if he had CCTV footage, and when he looked back he saw a white car that made two passes, and on the second pass the car stopped and someone opened the boot.
“I saw the police cars racing down here,” he said.
“There was a lot of shouting. I thought it was an altercation or something. Then I saw the armed police.
“They were shouting something to the homeowners. That was it. I stood in the window watching.”
Mr Murray said there were two cars with "three or four" officers in each, "all armed and with their headgear".
"Earlier on there was another policeman with a torch," he said. "My son said he heard some bangs but I don't know if that was the car doors slamming.
Three people have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder (PA)"There was a white hatchback which came around and stopped outside, then about half an hour later he came back and lifted up the boot."
Mr Murray said the footage was "a bit fuzzy, it was dark".
He said this happened at around 9.30pm.
Dad and son shot dead just miles apart in 'targeted attacks over custody battle'
The car "came around twice", Mr Murray added, and when someone opened the boot he "couldn't see him get anything out, it was very fuzzy".
He said he does not know if the homes sealed off by police are rental properties but believes "a guy on his own" stays there.
Flowers left at the scene in The Row, Sutton (PA)And a woman who also lives near to the houses sealed off by murder detectives in Sutton, Cambridgeshire, said she heard three loud bangs on Wednesday evening.
"I didn't know it was gunshots at the time," she said. "It was about 9.15pm; I thought it was something blowing over as I heard a bang.
"There are pallets in our garden that I thought could have fallen over. I didn't think anything crazy had happened. I heard two more - it was bang, space, bang.
"Whether or not they were each gunshots I don't know; then police were outside the house."
Detective chief superintendent Jon Hutchinson, of Cambridgeshire Police, said the two victims were "father and son".
Police at Meridian Close in the village of Bluntisham (Phil Harris)He said: "Working with local residents and family members we quite quickly established that the two victims were related and they were father and son," he said.
He said that the "primary line of investigation" was that the incident related to a "familial issue".
"It's been widely reported in the media that this may relate to a custody battle," he said. "I can confirm that is an active line of inquiry for us."
Forensic officers in white suits worked at the scene this morning, with two bunches of flowers left on the drive and uniformed officers and a marked car beside blue-and-white police tape sealing off the homes.
Forensic officers in white suits worked at the scene this morning (PA)Detective Inspector Mark Butler, from the major crime unit, said: “We have launched two linked murder investigations following the shootings of two men at separate properties in the county.
“These events will be shocking to local people and there will be understandable concerns within local communities, however, we are treating the attacks as targeted and there is no wider risk to the general public.
“There will be an increased police presence in the areas concerned today and officers and scenes of crime officers will be at the scenes throughout the day.
“Our thoughts also go out to the family and friends of the victims.
“Specially trained officers are in touch with them and they are helping our investigation.
“Detectives are now beginning inquiries into how these events unfolded and we are appealing to anyone who was in either area and saw anyone acting suspiciously or a white Peugeot 208.
“Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could be very important to our investigation.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting Operation Scan.
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