If the criminal threatens to use deadly force, then the use of deadly force to stop him is acceptable. I commend the members of the police for a job well done . To all the police around the world who put themselves in harms way to protect the rest of us, thank you.

R. Gracy, chattanooga, USA

Yeah, that gun ban is really working, isn't it?

When you ban guns only the criminals and police will possess them. This article is proof positive of this FACT.

Dave, Phoenix,AZ, USA

In my opinion, if you point a gun at an innocent person in an act of crime, then you have waved your right to life. The police did an excellent job. Hard work paid off. Why should police put their lives in danger trying to arrest a violent criminal with a gun? Stop him dead in his tracks.

Aaron, Tucson, USA

So let me get this straight. In a country where even large kitchen knives are being regulated, shooting a criminal suspect in the head is good police work? Hell even the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) wouldn't get away with that. Why not just let the robbery go down and pinch him at his flat?

Jack Hannely, New York, NY, USA

Excellent handling of the situation. We need justice in the world today. If you threaten someone else's human rights you forfeit your own. Those policemen should never have to defend their actions in this case. I hope that the lawsuits and prison sentences will not cost the UK more money.

Seth, Grove City, USA

Just mind-boggling how people in the UK think. A guy commits multiple armed robberies and his family thinks he should have been allowed to MURDER someone before using deadly force? The UK should now be called the Late Great Britain. Churchill must be weeping in his grave.

Scott, Nashville, USA

Good job guys, another day fighting the disrespectful and making society a safer place. These men obviously had no respect for others and needed to be gone. This may teach some idiot that crime is not a good idea. Thanks for your dedication to your work for others.

B Ousley, Caledonia, MS, USA

Aggressive criminals are social cancer, would you want a tumor removed from your gut and put in your leg? Killing them is merciful to society, society can't pay for such idiots for long and survive. Sooner or later they destroy society. They are parasites that sap strength & soon kill the host.

Brett Woods, Boise, USA

Criminals are like cancer, they cannot be re-educated and they drain the society of needed energy. If they are kept alive (imprisoned) society pays for it, if they are obviously dangerous and without regard for any form of law except their own...killing them is a merciful act...

B Woods, Boise, USA

Excellent result. Two crooks exterminated. A Security Guards life and safety protected. I suggest that the Guard now take legal action against he estate and family of the crooks.....a claim for compensation for stress and injury. The world improved that day. Well done.

Steve HARDING, CLARE , SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Guns don't kill people, People kill people! Check the statistics in our country, the higher the rate of gun ownership, the lower the crime rate! Kudos to the Flying Squad, my hat is off to you! Nunes played the game; he paid the price!

David, Greeneville, USA

this article dosen(t explain how the sniper happened to be there ? Was it an execution ?

rko, paris, fr

Getting shot by the police is an occupational hazard of being an armed robber.

PJ, Rockford, USA

Two criminals were killed, will I be shedding any tears? No, they chose to commit an armed robbery, they live (or should I say died haha) with the consequences. Excellent job by the police. Shame there will be an inquiry in to whether the police violated the criminals "human rights"

Stuart Stephens, Birmingham, United Kingdom

hats off to the Brits police and how did the robbers have guns with all the gun control laws in UK ? !! Guess its that only those laws only affect law abiding citizens !

lewis c. wells, gillett, usa

This is the good part. Now comes the second half of the movie. The case goes to court. Relatives of the robbers sob and claim the robbers were innocent babies - Why kill them? Police comes under more pressure - after killing the armed but rich lawyer. Eventually, no policeman will ever shoot again

David, Milton Keynes, England

To freddie b the yank,
"shoot first and ask questions later" Youv'e been doing that for years round the world which is why there is so much hatred for you in Iraq and afghanistan - however in this robbery the police had no choice and were correct .

steve, london, england

The FBI will shoot to kill bank robbers...always have ...always will, because the gun is always used in the robbery attempt. The dynamic here suggests one might be shot and die,bystander or thief at the scene. Los Angeles sees roughly 1300 attempts in a single year.Catching 78%!

D. Addams, Providence,

Other's have said similar but 'He who sows the wind, reaps the whirlwind'.

All in all a good day for law and order in the UK. Good work police.

Darren, Leeds, UK

I am so sorry to hear of such awful crimes in your beautiful part of the world. We have grown in size and with it has come a huge meth problem. It has ruined our once family oriented community. I'm glad Nunes will no longer be on the streets and I'm glad his whole gang was captured too.

Penny, Grand Junction, Colorado, United States

Here in the US we have a saying, "the life of an outlaw is a HARD one, they should get used to it!"

Jeff Byrd, Dueham NC, United States of America

Great job officers. Here in the USA, we would have people suing the police for racism, for shooting a black man. Islamics complaining about a dog pictured in the police ad? Let's all take back our cities and streets. Stop the crime and insane "PC" mentality.

Chris Allen, Oceanside, USA

Nice job officers. In the US, we would now have lawsuits claiming racism for shooting a black man. Lets take back our cities and streets. Stop the insane "PC" hypocrites. Islamics complainign about a dog in a police adverstisement? What next.

Chris Allen, Oceanside, USA

What is this? Shoot to Kill? Aren't they supposed to say "drop your weapon and put your hands up"? This is just a police execution.

ged, paris, france

Could you kindly send these policemen to Karachi where they would do a nice job by getting us rid of some 2,000 thugs, who kill people while stealing $20 worth cell phones.

Rizvi , Karachi , Pakistan

If you do armed robbery obviously you should expect the risk of being shot! If the robbers complicit family had grassed them up then they would be alive today.

Chris, London, UK

Congratulations to the police for a job well done. They got what they deserved. Career criminals like these should have faced the death penalty earlier though, that way they wouldn't have been able to re-offend.

Chris, Derby,

If he didnt want to risk being shot he shouldnt have had a weapon with him.

Rob, London,

Te guy had a gun trained on a victim, who could easily have become a hostage. Threaten with a gun expect to be shot!

Tobe S, Portola,

Excellent police work, congratulatons. I give my fullest support and approval to the operation. It sets an excellent precedent and sends the correct message to all criminals considering these actions.

A.Desilva, London, UK

"live by the sword etc" if you play the big boys game dont quibble when asked to pay up!

kevin anthony melia, salford mcr, england

I guess some would rather have the police wait until Nunes shot first at Mr Player and then ask him politely to consider putting the weapon down, or at least back in his pocket... Wham! you pull the gun, you'd better be ready for the possibility someone else might also have a gun.

Juan, Indiana, USA

Well done, well done, excellent outcome. My only regret is that the entire gang could not be despatched. The survivors will get a handful of years in prison and then be out again, to terrify and rob more victims.

Jes, Oxford, England

the robbery never ended in murder since the robbers intention was ver clear money not homocide, the police have once agin resorted to etxterm violence which they could of prevented by interviening earler or waiting after the robbers had left with the money . its a shame a single life had to be waste

simon, london,

A bit strange, Andrew in Durham, that you can think that with a gun pointed at a security guard's head that the police had any choice but to shoot him dead. Imagine the headlines - Police Marksmen Stand And Watch While Robber Kills Security Guard.

Steve, Altrincham,

As a Yank we have a saying: Shoot first and ask later....Regardless, should we wait until the robber shoots? What if the guard made a mistake? Since no one is a mind reader and a person is being threatened with a deadly weapon that only takes very little energy to use..There is no choice....

Freddie B, Miami, USA

Anytime anyone publicly exposes a weapon in hand or on their person while they are attempting a felonious act or demonstrating immediate overt anger toward another (present) individual(s) or they are known by authorities to be mentally inbalanced, the response should always be as it was in this case

J. D. Crawford, Winter Haven, FL, USA

If you point a gun at somebody you should expect to be shot dead.

It would appear that these thugs families knew all about their criminal activity.

Peter Saxton, London, UK

I thought the UK was a gun-free utopia? Doesn't seem to be working out too well.

Joe Mama, Last bastion of liberty,

Did he kill anyone.... NO. so why should he be killed. they knew it was him, why would they wait till he did it again just so they could shoot him in the act. seems pretty messed up in my opinion.

joe, Toledo, OH, USA

Well done guys! Great police work! You've sent a clear and ominous message to the violent criminals in England. The message is, "You may be killed while committing your crimes. Is it worth dying for nothing?"
Police shoot to stop the threat. If the threat keeps moving, the police keep shooting.

RJ, Atlanta, USA

Nice job ! This brought a smile to my face. Retired Maryland State Police.

Randy T., Frostburg, USA

Piffle, Andrew. If you use a gun during a crime, you assume the risk that you may be shot during its commission. Had the police tried to arrest him "peacefully" it could have devolved into a hostage situation.

If anyone has cause to complain, it's the van driver whom the police used as bait.

M. Hengis, London, UK

Obviously the family knew he was a criminal...if they were truly that concerned for his safety and well-being, do a background check and see if they ever checked him in for counseling or help. Good job Sniper.

Cliff, Twin Falls, USA

Another fine job by the police. Makes you wonder about the effectiveness of strict gun laws.

"When gun ownership is a crime only criminals have guns"

Dan, Minneapolis, USA

If he had absolutely no intent to murder anyone ever, the gun would have been unloaded.

JB, Gloucester, UK

I say bravo! Good job , Police. A hand gun was invented for one purpose only. So if you use one during the commision of a crime, there is an implyed threat to kill. All bets are off at that point. This is the "law of the jungle" and criminals must understand this. Once again , congratulations

Richard Johnson, Woburn,Mass, USA

Threaten people with death and you might die. End of story.

Rick, L.A., USA

You have go to admire the work done here. With the bad press usually taking most of the headlines this article will probably be pinned up in the police station.

Quality

al, liverpool,

Outstanding police work. I hope someone buys the cops a fews beers.

Jeff, Lisle, USA

To the officers who tracked down these scoundrels, I say, congratulations. They got what they deserved. Can't have it both ways; threaten people with guns & then expect the police to assume the guns won't be used. No one forced these thugs to use guns during their robberies. Good riddance to them

John Elleman, Syracuse, USA

Hats off to the British, finally getting the guts up to protect the innocent people of their country from its criminals.
To people of common sense Nunes was a killer when he decided to use a loaded gun to commit a crime.
His own decisions led to his demise. Personal responsibility = civilization.

Lawrence Cataldo, Springfield, USA

Indeed, If any of the gents from this police squad ever visit Springfield, Missouri, just down the road form world-famous Branson, please contact me. I would love to have you over for tea, and to congratulate you for doing a tough job.
Jolly good show! That is how you put it, right?

Lawrence Cataldo, Springfield, USA

It's detective work like this that makes potential criminals think twice before acting. We could use some more of this over the US.

stanz, Philadelphia, USA

Good job,congratulations

Piero, Savona, Italy

To Andrew in Durham, I would like to know how you would have liked to have been one of the people on the wrong end of these criminal's gun. Remember the second one could have just run away, but chose to go and get the weapon instead. Well done Police.

A. Adams, Biloxi,

The implied threat of carrying a gun is that it will be used otherwise it is not an effective threat.
Ultimately a security guard or passerby would have been murdered.
Use a gun illegally and you take the risk of being fatally shot.

Hamish, Inverness,

Looks and sounds like a beautiful piece of Police work. Good job ole boys... less bad guys to deal with. Give that sniper medals.

Brian, Derby, USA

Live by the sword; die by the sword.

George, St. Louis, MO, USA

If you are pointing a deadly weapon at someone else for the purpose of violently taking what is not rightfully yours, then you should be fully cognizant of the fact that you are risking that persons life for your personal gain. The criminal needs to understand how this devalues his own life.

Jake, Albuquerque, USA

Two thumbs up to the UK's police and intelligence units! It's amazing that they pulled this off. To call the deaths "murder" is to excuse the behavior of the criminals.

Rod C. Venger, Colorado Springs, USA

Excellent.

Ben, Philadelphia, United States

Anytime a person pulls a gun, it should be assumed he plans to use it. Deadly force was appropriate in this case and in many others. The Police gets a thumbs up from the US!

Gary, Enid, OK, USA

job well done by the sniper! it only takes a split second to pull the trigger of a gun and end somebodys life, the police did not know how he was going to react, they made the right decision that the situation called for, no INNOCENT lives lost.

Chad, Fremont, USA

they did exactly what needed to be done.

luke, belem,

I applaud the police for a job well done. The criminal chose his fate by threatening the use of deadly force and received an appropriate response from the sniper(s). Case closed.

Doug, Frankfort, Kentucky, United States

Do the Police KNOW he wasn't a killer? Can they say that he definitely would NOT have killed someone? No, they can't. No-one can. So they took the only sensible course of action.

Rather the career criminal dead than an innocent.

Rooney, Harlow, UK

The families will "demand" to know why they were shot and not arrested? I think anyone waving a loaded gun around during a robbery should EXPECT to be shot. It's common sense. If you are going to use firearms, then they will be used against you. Well done to the marksmen, they did their job!

Clive Parker, Bristol, England

A bit strange like, that they'd shoot dead someone they had been survailing!

I mean if they had been called to a bank robbery and where confronted with a man with a gun, they they may have some kind of justification for snippering him, but this isn't Iraq and he's only stealing money, not lives!

Andrew, Durham, UK

That's the way to treat them. Hearty congratulations to the police.

roland scott-jackson, Verteillac, France

If you carry guns and violently attack people then what fate do you expect?Those who live by the sword die by the sword.The 'extenuating' defence about being a drug dealer is a sick joke and speaks volumes about contemporary Britain

kay, yorks, UK