Yet another outpouring of sympathy for a gun wielding maniac. Perhaps sympathy would be somewhat muted had Mr Saunders been poorly educated and lived in a less affluent area. The officers involved in any incident like this act professionally to limit innocent casualties.

Joanna Finch, Wolverhampton,

If this area was cordoned off and evacuated, there was clearly no danger to anyone. Negotiators could and should have diffused the situation.A shotgun is also pretty useless beyond thirty yards and so the immediate danger to most people was not huge. His wife should also have been let into the house

Kristian Spreckley, Gatley, UK

I agree with Chris in London that five hours is "more than a fair chance" to give oneself up. In fact the snipers should have taken him out as soon as they arrived and before he fired another shot. It was dumb luck (and maybe he just couldn't shoot straight) that he didn't hit anybody.

Jason, Cambridge,

The man was a maniac who put at risk the lives of innocent members of the public and passers-by. This was after all a suposedly highly -intelligent individual and a lawyer who was fully cognisant of the repercussions of his actions. The fact that he might have been drunk or depressed is irrelevant .

Navtej Mangat, Woking, UK

It is not a Hollywood movie. When Police take a life it is devastating for all involved. Remember though, unarmed Police are nothing but targets for a gunman intent on taking life. Police are there to protect the community and do their job with restraint and courage. Well done.

John, Melbourne, Australia

Surely in the 5 hours of the siege they could have researched and evaluated the character and personality of the individual before the negotiators supposedly went in rather than blasting away regardlessly. When will we ever learn, a tragic, tragic loss of a very talented individual. RIP

David Westbrooke, London SW19, UK

5 hours is more than a fair chace to give yourself up!
lets not forget he had opened fire on the public & then the Police!

And for those who think otherwise
what if the Police did hold out.
what if he did kill a passer by?
what if it was your family?

Chris, London,

I love how many people here think they could have done a better job. If you think you could have sorted the situation out without killing him - because you obviously know ALL the details from a newspaper - maybe you should go work for the armed police!

Phil, Guildford,

For the misinformed who claim that the perpetrator's weapon was "only a shotgun" and it only shoots out "little pellets", you'd better do some research.
A shotgun is a devastating weapon, and many American police and Marines use shotguns for heavy firepower. They are not toys...

Chris Walker, Hagerstown, USA

Mark Saunders was my barrister, and I also met his wife once too. I am profoundly shocked and this instance just goes to show that really, this could happen to anyone. A more grounded, sensible and level-headed seeming man you could not meet. I simply fail to understand. My heartfelt condolences.

SCA, London, UK

Mark may have known - but not used the services - of LawCare, an org. part-run by volunteer-lawyers recovered from alcohol/drug addiction, depression, family rows & burnout etc. Orig. set up as SolCare for Solicitors, then extended to Barristers, its leaflets say lawyers R good at arguing no problem

Horseface, Vienna, Austria

Matt,
fyi, handguns were banned in the UK.
Shot gun certificates can be held by sane, mentally fit individuals who have access to facilities to use them.
This sad case is an example of when someone "unfit" to have a firearm retains their certificate.
The UK's core gun problem is with criminals

Jamie Myatt, London, UK

How utterly awful. My sincerest condolences to both families.

He was obviously devastated and as soon as he started waving a gun around in public, his career was over which would probably have given him no reason to give himself up. Did the police listen enough to go storming in to his house?

Alistair Kipling, Birmingham,

He was obviously ill. However if you fire on the police you can only expect one out come. What he did was blue suicide. When you want to end it all but cant do it yourself so look to the authorities to do it for you.

Alan, Chelmsford, u

There are MANY occasions when the police are heavy handed, but this is not one of them.

Facts: He had a SHOTGUN, shooting randomly in a crowded area. He was holed up in his room behind the window.

Should we have just let him carry on til he passed out?

Well done police, it was the right decision

Howard, Manchester,

My heart goes out to Mark Saunders' wife and his family.

Having suffered from poor mental health and addiction problems I recognise how incredibly risky guns in the general population are. I sometimes think that madness is never that far away from any of us. This seems desperate not mad to me.

Matt Shorter, London, London

If it was your house he was shooting at with your children inside after he had opened fire on law enforcement im sure you would expect it to be ended sooner rather than later. It seemed suicidal.

Dama, Greenwich,

This just show how stupid our policing system is.
Why couldn't they shoot him with a tranquiliser dart?

I'm disgusted at being British, and disgusted at being a London. Jean Charles De Menezes anyone?

This guy simply liked alcohol too much, at a very hard time in his life. Could happen.

Peter, London,

I have no sympathy with this man because he had everything and threw it all away just to get plastered on a daily basis, intelligent yes but no common sense.

Add to this, he shot indiscriminately without any thought for the public.

He died the way how he lived, drunk.

James, Northampton, England

I cannot understand why people try and bad mouth the police. Remember this stand off was for 5 hours, you don't know what went on, who he was shooting at. The police obviously felt he was a danger and ended the situation. Unfortunately this meant that a young man lost his life tragically.

Chris Nightingale, London,

I pity the man and his family, but I think it's wrong to suggest that the police should have waited it out or checked his mental health first. If a man is firing - especially if his mental state is less than stable - then waiting could create further complications in the form of victims.

Louise, London,

Man with only a shotgun, so posing very little risk to the community? Whether attempting 'suicide-by-cop' or just deranged, a clear case, failing negotiation, for tear-gas or other incapacitating grenade.
But no, the Met just send in the trigger-happy cowboy snipers AGAIN.
No NOT clever, SICK.

Lance, Great Yarmouth, UK

To Hibbo, Dundee

Whenever a police officer fires a firearm 2 things happen. (1) The officer who discharged his weapon is relieved from firearms duty and (2) the IPCC investigate the actions of the officer. Once that investigation is over, the officer returns.

Rodders, London,

He could have killed someone! A neighbour, a passer-by or the police. That's probably the reason he was executed.

Caroline , Manchester, UK

This has little to do with gun control. Anyone who wants to inflict pain and/or cause death will find a gun whether they are legal or not. Perhaps we have to ask ourselves when did it become acceptable to behave this way? Or what would we like the police to do in a potentially lethal situation?

JB, NB, Canada

If this guy was non-white or of low income then there would not be a response as to whether he deserved it or not, as there have been many more the police have struck down to which no-one questions, a few innoncents too.Its not rocket, you shoot at armed police - you get shot simple - drunk or sober

Gomez, Neasden, England

Has anyone thought may be he committed suicide by police gunfire?

Anna, London, England

really guys, it's a personal tragedy, why do you feel so free to criticise someone else's life? he just got killed. if they waited until the morning he wld have got tired and most probably passed out from drugs,alcohol,stress...no death was needed. i live locally,everyone is shocked and sad.

Laura, London, United Kingdom

Last time I was in Houston my work collegues had their trunks stuffed with uzi's and Barrettas. This is one of the few instances of a legally held gun causing the problem. Guns crimes up for criminals - who dont care about the ban because being a criminal relies on you not doing what the law says.

James, Glasgow,

He went mad and they shot him. Simple as that. It's a disturbingly poor performance by the police and negotiating professionals who would have known early on they were dealing with acute onset mental illness. It highlights need for urgent investigation of ill-informed police procedures.

Angela, Sydney , Australia

The police did the right thing. It's a shame this man went off the rails, but good to know that our police are able to protect innocent members of the public when required to.

Taz, Hants,

Yes Matt - 1 shooting incident V the 13,000 people who die every year due to gun crime in the US

Mark, London,

Matt from Houston - 2007 Houston murder rate - 18.2 per 100K people, London has around about 2.4 per 100k.
Hmmm, let's legalise guns!

Phil Hynes, Chesham,

Good flippant point Matt. However, these are believed to be licensed fire arms, proving the point tighter controls are needed.

Alex, London,

Dear Matt of Houston, USA - in response to your comment

At least this is thankfully a rare occurrence as opposed to your daily shoot outs. I would imagine an incident like this would not even make the news where you live!

PF, London, England

Very helpful, Clive, thanks. If he is 32 now, he would have been 24ish when called to the Bar in '99 and it takes 5 years to train a barrister meaning he started, naturally enough, when he was 19. When could he possibly have been in the Armed Forces? Thimk, Clive, thimk (deliberate spelling!)

Ash (ex-Army), London,

Why dIid a family lawyer need a shotgun. what possible use could it have had being kept at his flat. surely guns should only be kept at secure gun clubs or held by authorized military/police personnel. perhaps he maintained a firing range in his garden, but he didnt deserve to be executed.

s chohan, birmingham, UK

Prayers for the officers who dedicated their lives to protecting the public, then one horrible day were required to kill.

Doug, Pittsburgh, USA

The cops shot a guy in the back in Houston last week -- for speeding! In broad daylight and with it all shown on tv.

jwebster, houston, texas

Matt,
Ignore the hoplophobes bleating about how barbaric the US is and how civilised the UK is. Our gun crime rates are up. Our murder rates are up. Canada has similar freedom of firearm ownership, yet has a much lower per-capita murder rate than the UK.

P.S.
I'm a brit, not an american.

Graham, Oxford, UK

Gun crime is considered rare in this country, Matt (Houston, USA)

That's why it is such big news.

Try to keep up, you're very badly informed.

Annie, Bath, UK

Paul from Richmond on Thames said -"I am devastated that, in his hour of need, this 'unflappable barrister' was not able to negotiate with his inner demons. RIP"

Inner demons maybe but those who failed to negotiate an exit from this situation are the demons to fear.

Couldn't they have waited?

R Bingham, Lauzun, France

Why did he do it??? There does not appear to be a reason?

Sarah, Kent, UK

Now I am not a big fan off the Police, in fact I love to slag them off most of the time, BUT; why are the IPCC investigating? A man starts shooting in the street, shoots at Police, the police shoot him - case closed, well done guys.
Why are the IPCC automatically assuming they did something wrong?

Hibbo, Dundee, UK

It has plenty to do with the gun laws. An angry, self-destructive drunk without a firearm is a good deal less dangerous than an angry, self-destructive drunk with one. Having been an armed policeman when younger, I'm slow to second guess the officers facing this guy.

Jack Cerf, Newark, NJ, USA

The U.K. has a remarkably good record in terms of gun crime. That is something North Americans can only dream of. Even Canada is a "Wild West' compared to the U.K. let alone the U.S.A. Count your lucky stars Brits....

Nigel, Grimsby, Ontario

Matt, your comments are insensitive and ill-advised. Ultimately, an ill man had lost his life and could have taken more with him. Show some respect.

Shahib, London, England

Leaving aside the inadvisability of mixing drink with any medicine, it's time the medical establishment looked long and hard at the side effects of so-called ant-depressants - many of which are at the root of erratic and uncharacteristic behaviour.
So awful for his family and friends. Such a waste,

Margot, Northwich,

The point that Matt is making, is that the flawed legislation introduced after the Dunblane shooting has done nothing to make the UK safer. Gun crime has quadrupled since. It has just placed huge burdens on law abiding gunowners and British sportsmen who were world leaders in pistol shooting.

Justin, Bucks,, UK

Really, I had to read it twice, to make sure I wasn't mistaken: the first killing by police after De Menezes??? Damn, that's so, so out of my reality!!!! I'm ashamed....

Gracy Lima, Guarulhos, Brazil

Everyone has missed the point, which is that some private tragedy has spilled over into a normal guy resorting to taking random shots at neighbours. There is rumour that he served in Iraq. If true then it seems there wasn't sufficient support to rehabilitate. He and his wife deserve our sympathy.

Peter, London, UK

Rod - what a callous remark. It 's a tragedy not because he's a lawyer, but because a person has pointlessly lost their life. If the reports of his mental health issues are true, then it is doubly sad because it is yet another example of the failure of our mental health services.

Rory , London, Britain

Paul in London - why is this sad? Dude shoots at police - what does he expect?

Is it because he's a lawyer? Are people who wear ties worth more than other folk?

Rod, London, UK

I don't understand why he was shot dead. OK he had a shotgun. As it only shoots little pellets it has a range of maybe 50 yards. Why could the police not negotiate and or wait for the man to calm down? They were in no danger and nor was anyone else as long as they kept a reasonable distance.

M Jeffs, Bucks, UK

The bottom line is this incident is an absolute tragedy for this man's family and friends and has no real bearing on gun laws. However, if it is true that he was suffering from depression, severe stress etc, then it is likely to be more relevant to the state of health facilties in this country.

Rory , London, Britain

Perhaps the government will finally upgrade alcohol to a Class B drug!

Roger Yates, Guildford, UK

Dont see why they had to kill him, what about a baton round, or tranquiliser dart or something, all a bit gung-ho isnt it?

Chris, Isle of Wight,

'He was called to the bar' will always have a different meaning after this sad newsitem.

pieter hildering, amsterdam, Netherlands

Matt from Houston, USA - your comment is typical form from a very insular nation run by a joker. How much blood has he got on his hands - and you lot put him there! It appears that your politics are working well.

steve, luton,

As my divorce barrister, I could not have found a more empathetic, pragmatic and conciliatory person to support me. I am sure I speak for those who knew him professionally. I am devastated that, in his hour of need, this 'unflappable barrister' was not able to negotiate with his inner demons. RIP

Paul, Richmond upon Thames, UK

JonB, As a family lawyer I can confirm that he would have been too poorly paid to rent a £2m flat. That's why he had to buy it!

Hawtrey Basil-Smythe, London,

"The other day there was an article saying how poorly paid family law was, and now they're renting £2 million flats! "
JonB, Manchester, UK

Key word there is RENTING JonB; 32 and not owning a home. Hardley streets paved with gold...

James, Leeds,

slightly ironic that Matt from Houston is commenting on our firearms legislation.

matt, maidstone,

This is a rare incident in that the weapon used was legally held by the owner. Gun crime has not decreased since the new firearms acts were implemented.
It is the illegally held firearms that are doing the damage and the gun crime statistics show that.
Banning firearms did not help Jill Dando

John , Newcastle,

In the States, we call this kind of incident suicide by cop.

Kathleen, Falmouth, Maine

Shocking; this all comes in the week of the relaese of GTA 4 and it is only a mere 65 miles away from my house too.

Kinny, Cambridge, UK

To ironic Matt in Houston: if only they had the death penalty, none of this would have happened, eh.

David Masu, Zürich,

Privately paying family law pays very well. It's legal aid family work (as all other legal aid work - crime, immigration) which pays peanuts.

Elizabeth, Redditch,

This is very sad. May he rest in peace.

Paul, London,

Why are you lot responding to Matt from Houston? Texas is neither the bastion of common sense nor is it best practice for gun control. His comment was obviously designed to provoke rather than encourage constructive debate.

Stephen Manick, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Was living in London for appx one year and heard of lots of stabbings but gun shot injuries/deaths were very rare. Back in the USA ...the first week in a city of 800,000 2 gunshot deaths and 5 gunshot injuries.
Seems over here the weapons are more lethal but the criminals are the same low life scum

Vernon, Atlanta, USA

That is a hell of way of keeping the population down; training them to shoot at 'suspect' civilians I mean [ both barissters or non and the police marksmen/masked men]. Great fun, what?

Nicholas Xenakis, Borough, London, England, UK

"America does so little to protect its citizens from unstable people."

Quite. Electing the unstable into high political office doesn't look like such a good idea now, does it?

Rob, London,

If there are no guns around people usually don't use them. We are very lucky in the UK that that is so.

The story appears to be about alcohol and how to help people when they are alcoholics particularly colleagues and spouses is a very difficult question.

Lawyer, London,

Good to see the usual crop of well thought out, informed responses. You obviously understand a lot more than those of us who actually knew the man.

Alex, Dublin,

This is big news in England, Matt from Houston. Would it make the news in Texas?

Alex C, London,

Seriously, Matt, how often does it happen over here??
Gloating really IS bad form!

Christine, Essen, Germany

The other day there was an article saying how poorly paid family law was, and now they're renting £2 million flats!

JonB, Manchester, UK

Yes Matt, our gun ban is working really well! Dan's comment, saying how shocking the events were last night, is enough to understand that shootings don't happen all that often in the UK. Now, would you like to tell me how many shootings there have been in the US this year so far?

Dave, London, United Kingdom

Matt from Houston, People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I do not comment on your domestic policies and I don't see why you should comment on ours.

Peter, London, UK

The law is in your hands.

Howard, Manchester,

In Bulgaria we have this each day and all over the place.

George, Sofia, Bulgaria

Since the ban on legally-owned guns following the Dunblane tragedy, the number of people shot has quadrupled.

Rushed, populist legislation, relatively cost-free in votes, and oh so effective.

Look after your second amendment USA.

CyberDoc, London,

This case is out of the ordinary, and I would say that the gun ban is appropriate as it reflects that British society will not tolerate violence. Laws of a country reflect the attitude of that society. I like that ,unlike the USA, we're not encouraged to carry arms as a means of resolving problems.

Naomi, Nottingham,

America does so little to protect its citizens from unstable people. It should introduce proper gun laws. There are many unstable people in the world - the point is that they should not be allowed to get their hands on guns. Strict gun control laws are minimum requirements of good governments.

Steve, London, England

England has a very impressive record as far gun control is concerned. In Trinidad with a population of 1.6 million we have had 163 homicides for the year already, most of which involve firearms. A large percentage are gang related killings but its still surprising how easy you can attain a firearm.

Stephen Manick, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Matt,
Comparing gun crime stats for our countries you are 25 times more likely to get shot and killed than me, 29 times more likely to get shot and injured and 13 times more likely to shoot yourself or someone else accidently.

Pete, Chesterfield,

Matt, I would say it does work pretty well, our gun crime figures are still much safer than the US. Plus, we don't outlaw shotguns, which was reportedly the firearm used in this instance, so our ban couldn't have stopped this one.

Bill Reminder, Bishops Norton,

This highlights the problem with returning members of our armed forces is that more needs to be done on their metal health before they return home.

Clive, Dartford, Kent

Yes Matt, because two police shootings in three years is ridiculously high

Amanda, London, W12,

Indeed Dan, if only we had the right to bear arms, our country would be a much safer place!

tim, london,

This happened just around the corner from me at work... shocking!

Dan, Winchester, UK

It appears that your gun ban is working well.

Matt, Houston, USA