Plymouth shooting: killer Jake Davison talked about ‘Incel’ in weeks before attack

Davison, who killed five people, including a young girl, in Plymouth, had made statements online through Youtube videos relating to ‘incel’ police have revealed.

Jake Davison Youtube channel subscribes to an account named Incel TV, which features content related to “involuntary celibacy”.

Incel is an abbreviation of “involuntary celibate”, incels are members of an online subculture of people who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one.

The online subculture involves men who express hostility and extreme resentment towards those who are sexually active, particularly women.

Davison bemoaned his personal appearance, talked about feeling isolated and his struggle to meet women.

At times he launched into tirades using terms coined by misogynistic online groups of “involuntary celibate” men, known as “incels”.

Although saying he did not “clarify” himself as an “incel”, Davison talked about “people similar to me have had nothing but themselves”.

Discussions in incel forums are often characterised by resentment and hatred, misogyny, misanthropy, self-pity and self-loathing, racism, a sense of entitlement to sex, and the endorsement of violence against women and sexually active people. The American nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described the subculture as “part of the online male supremacist ecosystem” that is included in their list of hate groups. Incels are mostly male and heterosexual. Estimates of the overall size of the subculture vary greatly, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of members.

At least seven mass murders, resulting in a total of 56 deaths, have been committed since 2014 by men who have either self-identified as incels or who had mentioned incel-related names and writings in their private writings or Internet postings. Incel communities have been criticized by researchers and the media for being misogynistic, encouraging violence, spreading extremist views, and radicalising their members.

In online videos, Davison spoke of being “beaten down” and “defeated by life”.

Signing off on an 11-minute video, which appears to be the last he posted, Davison said: “I know it’s a movie but I like to think sometimes I’m the Terminator or something. Despite reaching almost total system failure he keeps trying to accomplish his mission.”

Beginning in 2018, the incel ideology has increasingly been described as a terrorism threat, and a February 2020 attack in Toronto, Canada became the first instance of allegedly incel-related violence to be prosecuted as an act of terrorism.

Facebook accounts belonging to the gunman, Jake Davison, have been deleted, the social network has confirmed.

A spokesperson for the company said the 22-year-old’s presence had been removed from their platforms under its dangerous individuals and organisations policy, which does not allow mass murderers to be on Facebook or Instagram.

It follows the termination of Davison’s YouTube account.

The course of yesterdays tragic events.

The police received calls to an address on Biddick Drive at 18:11 and armed and unarmed officers arrived with six minutes.

Mr Sawyer said “multiple shots have been fired from a firearm during that six minute-or-so period”.

The 22-year-old shot two women, two men and the three-year-old girl in a deadly six-minute spree in the Keyham area of the city on Thursday evening.

Police said the incident, the worst mass shooting in Britain since 2010, is not terror-related.

Emergency services were called to Biddick Drive shortly after 18:00 BST on Thursday. Five people, including 22-year-old Davison, died at the scene and one died later in hospital.

Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said Davison was a firearms licence holder.

He said the weapon used in the shooting had been described by witnesses as a “pump action shotgun” but police were not confirming that at this stage.

Mr Sawyer confirmed a firearm had been recovered from the scene and officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

He said: “We believe we have an incident that is domestically related, that has spilled into the street and seen several people in Plymouth losing their lives in extraordinarily tragic circumstances.”

The police received calls to an address on Biddick Drive at 18:11 and armed and unarmed officers arrived with six minutes.

Mr Sawyer said “multiple shots have been fired from a firearm during that six minute-or-so period”.

He said Davison “murdered” a 51-year-old woman who was known to him, with police believing there may be a familial relationship.

He then went out on to the street, where “he immediately shot and killed a very young girl. He also shot and killed the male relative of that girl”, who was aged 43.

Davison then shot another woman, 53, and a man, 33, on Biddick Drive who remain in hospital with injuries “not thought to be life-threatening”.

He next went into a park, where he shot a 59-year-old man who died at the scene, and then moved to Henderson Place where he shot a woman, 66, who later died at Derriford Hospital.

“Eye witnesses have told us that then Mr Davison turned the gun on himself taking his own life,” said Mr Sawyer.

The police are working at 13 scenes and said they will looking at Davison’s social media output as part of the investigation.

Mr Sawyer said “no motive” had been identified at present.

Our thoughts go out to all the families and friends involved in these terrible events.