Warwick University responds to Tile Hill shooting

The shooting in Tile Hill, Coventry on Tuesday 4 June has been called a “rare and unusual” incident by the University.

Students whose revision might have been disrupted by the incident will not automatically be eligible for special consideration by the exam board, a spokesperson for Warwick has said.

Several Tile Hill residents complained on Twitter about the noise of a police helicopter flying overhead during the hunt for Mark Cullimore, 34, who was involved in an armed stand-off with police in a block of flats in the Tile Hill area at around 2pm.

“While there may have been some disruption to Tile Hill that night, that is still one night within one to four years of study at Warwick, so it will not have had a generic effect on exams as a whole,” said spokesperson Peter Dunn.

“Should an individual student feel that it had a particular effect on them in respect of a particular exam the very next day, then they have the normal opportunities to put such a case to the boards of examiners within their departments.”

Mr Dunn also said that the incident would not affect Warwick Accommodation using Tile Hill as an area for student housing.

“If students elect to use Warwick Accommodation’s help to find off-campus accommodation, then we aim to find them accommodation in a property we directly manage,” he said.

“The University manages around 450 houses (about 1700 rooms) in Coventry, Kenilworth and Leamington. This safeguards student interests by ensuring that all properties meet local authority standards of health and safety, furnishing and maintenance.”

Students living in Tile Hill spoke to the Boar about the incident.

Joseph Paul, third-year Mathematics student, said he believed it was an “isolated incident”.

“Although it is worrying that people are able to conduct these attacks, I do not feel less safe in the area,” he said.

“After all, this appears to be an isolated, targeted attack, and so I do not believe that it will lead to increased threats and violence against the community as a whole.”

Mr Paul added: “Although I did not directly witness the police response, I did notice that even last night [June 4], many hours after the incident, that there was an increased police presence in the streets, which was obviously a security to make sure this incident did not escalate, which thankfully it didn’t.”

Second-year Economics student Sam Fry said: “It is certainly true that Coventry isn’t the safest place in the country: certainly a lot more dangerous than where I am from in Surrey.

“However, I am comforted by the police on the streets, which makes me feel much safer and I’m glad my house is on a main road, which means there is a considerably lower risk of burglary and makes walking home at night safer.

“As for the shooting, clearly it is a concern when someone gets shot close to your house. However incidents of this kind are rare and the police seem to be dealing with it well.”

Zartasha Athar, a third-year Sociology student, lived in Tile Hill for part of her second year but now lives on campus.

“I didn’t feel that safe walking back home because it’s not a student area so gets too quiet sometimes,” she said.

The victim of the shooting Benjamin Buckeridge, who is believed to be in his twenties, was found with a non-fatal gunshot wound in the arm in Faseman Avenue in what police have described as a “targeted attack”.

Mr Cullimore was detained by police at midday on Wednesday and was charged on June 7 with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, making threats to kill and wounding.

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