Police have identified the victim as John MacKinnon, one of three people hurt in a string of violent incidents on and near the Isle of Skye.
At his residence in Sasaig, on the southeast coast of the island, the 47-year-old victim was shot and killed. On Wednesday, he was killed at around 9.30 am, roughly 30 minutes after a woman was gravely hurt in a stabbing in adjacent Tarskavaig. She was flown to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University hospital.
Later, two more people were hurt in a second shooting in Dornie, Kyle of Lochalsh, 50 kilometres (30 miles) to the northeast, on the Scottish mainland.
A 39-year-old male was reportedly detained in connection with what Police Scotland described as connected firearm incidents at the two locations. The arrested man had also been transported by air ambulance to a hospital.
A 39-year-old male has been arrested in connection with all of the incidents, which are being treated as connected, said to Chief Supt. Conrad Trickett, the policing commander for the Highlands and Islands division. Myself and my coworkers at Police Scotland are thinking a lot about Mr. MacKinnon’s family, friends, and the three persons who are still hurt.
Local reports indicate that MacKinnon was trying to stop his attacker from obtaining a gun in an effort to save others. Despite being on the site, paramedics were unable to save MacKinnon.
According to Trickett, the incidents were contained and the public was not at greater risk. Although thankfully very uncommon, incidents like this one will undoubtedly have a big impact on the local people in these remote locations. Over the next few days, there will be a sizable police presence in the area, and we’ll be working with partners to help the neighbourhood.
He urged witnesses to dial 101 and cited reference 0713 from August 10.
It was “the worst day that I can ever recollect in the history of Skye and Lochalsh,” according to the local MSP Kate Forbes. It feels like our own heart has been torn apart, she continued.
The Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader and MP for Ross, Skye, and Lochaber, Ian Blackford, claimed the news had “struck the place to the core.” He continued, “Some of these communities take some time to recover from this, so it’s absolutely vital that we make sure there is help there for the families.”
The communities impacted by the occurrences on and around Skye will experience “devastation,” according to Nicola Sturgeon. When the first minister went to see a church group in Forfar, Angus, on Thursday, she was questioned about the gun incident.
“My thoughts are with those most immediately touched by what has been a tragic occurrence on Skye,” she stated. I want those people and families, who will have been heartbroken by what has happened, to know how strongly I feel. Of all, such events as those that occurred yesterday would have been horrifying and catastrophic in any region of the nation.
However, because the towns in question are small and tightly knit, the sense of tragedy will be felt even more keenly.
Everyone in Scotland, she continued, “will be thinking of the impacted communities on Skye right now.”
In addition to working with Police Scotland and others to ensure the families were helped, the Highland Council claimed it was giving all the help it could to the communities and partners involved in the “awful tragedies” in Skye and Lochalsh.
