LONDON (AFP — A man wanted for murder after the killing of a police officer has been found dead in an Essex village churchyard, police said Tuesday.
Hundreds of officers launched a manhunt for Peter Reeve, 64, after off-duty police constable Ian Dibell was shot dead as he intervened in a dispute in the seaside town of Clacton on Monday.
Essex chief constable Jim Barker-McCardle told reporters: "I can confirm Peter Reeve, the man wanted for the murder of a serving police officer, was found dead with a weapon in a Writtle churchyard, and no shots were fired by the police."
Dibell, 41, was found dead after police officers were called to Farlop Close in Clacton, east of London, on Monday afternoon. Another man had sustained gunshot wounds to the leg after a handgun was fired.
McCardle earlier said that indications were that Dibell had been killed after intervening in an "extremely deadly situation".
His family called him a "hero" and said he had paid for his actions "in the most devastating way".
The public had been warned not to approach Reeve as he was believed to be still armed and dangerous. He was "largely unknown" to police and did not have a firearms licence.
Barker-McCardle said a number of lines of inquiry were being pursued as to the motive in the shooting.
He added: "There must have been some sort of catalyst that prompted the scale of a tragedy of this kind."
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