First details of BBQ shooting

A neighbour of the mother shot at a family barbecue cradled her in her arms as she died.

Georgina Gibson and her husband Roy rushed next door after hearing shots. They found Vicki Horgan dying and her two girls Bobbie, aged five, and Jade, seven, cowering with fear and screaming. Mrs Horgan's sister Emma Walton was fatally wounded, while her mother Jackie Bailey was critically injured.

Mr Gibson, 70, a retired HGV driver, said: "When I went in my wife was holding Vicki in her arms and she was still alive.

She tried to administer first aid to all of them but she couldn't keep them alive. Vicki had been shot in the head and was in the living room when I went over there.

"Her mother and sister were in the kitchen; they had been shot somewhere on the body. There was blood everywhere, it was pure carnage. The children were screaming hysterically. They were obviously terrified and extremely panicked by what they had seen."

Mrs Gibson added: "I just feel sick at what has happened."

As the gunman approached the house Mrs Horgan managed to usher her daughters and her mother and sister inside and lock the doors, only for him to break in.

Once inside he blasted Jackie at point blank range before turning the gun on Mrs Horgan, 27, and Ms Walton, 25, who later died of her wounds in hospital. Mrs Bailey is still fighting for her life.

Another neighbour, Margaret Smith, said: "They had been enjoying a barbecue when he turned up and I think Vicki got them all indoors and locked the door but he must have managed to get to them. He entered the house through the back. We are all devastated."

Mrs Horgan's husband Stuart, 39, was arrested in Peterborough by armed police in the early hours of today following a nationwide hunt.

Police swooped on the grounds of the Botolph Arms pub in Peterborough at about 3am. Neighbours woke to see officers chasing a man and then ordering him to come out of bushes at the back of the pub.

Mr Horgan was handcuffed to a telegraph pole for about 10 minutes until a police transit van arrived. It emerged that Mrs Horgan had gone to the ground floor flat a year ago after splitting up with her husband, but had allowed him to move back in with her, finally kicking him out a month ago.

After the shooting, the hamlet was sealed off as dozens of officers, armed with submachineguns and wearing bulletproof vests and helmets, began a search for the gunman.

A message warning neighbours to stay indoors was broadcast via a loudspeaker but many fled. An incident room has been opened at Reading police station.

Neighbours criticised the time it took emergency services to arrive and claimed the women could have survived if paramedics had been on the scene quicker.

Mr Gibson said: "The police said they couldn't let the ambulance crews in until they were satisfied the man had gone and it was safe. But I kept telling them he had run away and we were at the house and it was safe - I told them we needed help - but they didn't come. There must be an inquiry into this, it is disgraceful."

A spokesman for the Royal Berkshire ambulance service said it received a 999 call at 3.40pm yesterday.

Three ambulances, two duty officers and a motorcycle paramedic reached the scene at 6pm, more then two hours later.

A spokesman for Royal Berkshire Ambulance NHS Trust said paramedics had to stand off, delaying treatment, because of fears the gunman was nearby. Police promised to investigate the complaints. Thames Valley Police today explained why it had taken officers an hour to attend the scene. "Firearms operations demand a controlled response in order to safeguard any members of the public who could be at risk. Those running the operation had to be confident that no one's safety would be put at further risk before authorising personnel to approach the house," said a spokesman.