Plymouth shooting: YouTube channel thought to belong to shooter taken offline
Page thought to belong to Jake Davison removed for ‘violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines’, site says
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The YouTube channel thought to belong to the gunman who killed five people in a Plymouth shooting spree has been taken offline.
Before it was removed, the page included a number of videos from Jake Davison, who has been named locally as the shooter. He had called himself “Professor Waffle” on the site.
Instead, the page just shows a message indicating that the account has been removed. “This account has been terminated for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” it reads.
YouTube’s rules include restrictions on “offline behaviour”, not just posts on the site itself, and the channel is understood to have been banned on that basis.
On the channel, Davison voiced his dissatisfaction with his appearance and seemed to refer to ideas popular within the incel, or involuntarily celibate, community. He also posted videos of himself weightlifting.
The videos posted to the account made no reference to any possible attack, despite having been posted in recent weeks. Instead, they focused on his complaints about his life, describing himself as “beaten down”.
It had however liked videos about guns, alongside others focusing on gaming and space exploration. It was also subscribed to a number of other gun-related channels.
YouTube confirmed in a statement that it had banned the page.
“Our hearts go out to those affected by this terrible incident,” a spokesperson said. “We have strict policies to ensure our platform is not used to incite violence on YouTube.
“In addition, we also have long standing policies that prohibit those responsible for attacks like these from having a YouTube channel and have since terminated their channel from our platform.”
The page was removed just before 10.30am local time on Friday, the day after the shooting.
Devon and Cornwall Police said three females, two males and the suspect had died in the Keyham area of the city on Thursday evening.
One of those killed was a “small child” aged under 10, according to local MP Luke Pollard.
He added that people are receiving treatment in hospital, though police have yet to confirm the final figure of those injured.
Police said all six people are believed to have died from gunshot wounds and stressed the incident was not terror-related.
Forensic officers in protective clothing could be seen conducting fingertip searches at the scene on Friday morning, including examining road kerbs, while a coroner’s ambulance was filmed leaving the area.
A large yellow tent has also been set up in the road and several uniformed officers remain posted around the cordon.
The incident is the first mass shooting in Britain since June 2010, when taxi driver Derrick Bird killed 12 people and injured 11 others in Cumbria.
In a statement, the force said officers were called to a “serious firearms incident” in Biddick Drive at around 6.10pm.
A spokesman said: “Following attendance at the scene, two females and two males were deceased at the scene.
“A further male, believed to be the offender, was also deceased at the scene. All are believed to have died from gunshot wounds.
“Another female treated at the scene for gunshot wounds died a short time later in hospital.”
The spokesman said the area had been cordoned off and added that police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Members of the public with mobile phone footage were urged not to post it on social media platforms and “respect those families who have lost loved ones”, he said.
Additional reporting by Press Association