Northumbria Police have issued a £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of a gunman who has gone on the run after gunning down three people, including a police officer.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, bodybuilder and former bouncer Raoul Moat, 37, shot his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, 22, hours after he was released from Durham Prison in County Durham where he had served a short sentence for assault.
Miss Stobbart has been left in a critical condition in hospital after Moat shot through a window of her home in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Miss Stobbart's new boyfriend, karate instructor Chris Brown, 29, was shot dead as he ran from the same house.
Almost 24 hours later, Moat shot a cop. Married father of two PC David Rathband, 42, was shot in his patrol car at a roundabout in East Denton, Newcastle. He survived the attack and is recovering in hospital.
It's believed that Moat thought that Chris Brown was a police officer, developing a grudge against cops leading to him shooting Police Constable Rathband.
After the shootings, Moat went on the run and has now been a wanted man for five days.
He is believed to be near the village of Rothbury in Northumberland, England's most northerly county on the border with Scotland. The village is around 30 miles north of the city of Newcastle.
A two mile exclusion was placed around the village, and yesterday children in the village's schools were not allowed to leave until the police were sure it was safe to do so. Armed police officers are swarming the area in the hunt for Moat.
Police have also found Moat's abandoned car and also a tent and a makeshift campsite near the village. The killer has also been writing letters to the police taunting them. On Monday, a 49-page letter believed to be from Moat was handed to the police. Another was found yesterday at the makeshift campsite.
Northumbria Police, which is responsible for two counties - Northumberland and Tyne and Wear - are so desperate for Moat to be catched that they have now issued a £10,000 reward for info leading to his capture.
Cops in Northern Ireland have also sent over 20 armoured 4x4 Mitsubishi Shoguns in a bid to help the search.
He's given them the slip again! Police find fugitive's makeshift campsite and letter to ex-lover he gunned down - but no sign of the killer
By Mail Online Reporter
7th July 2010
Daily Mail
The fugitive gunman at the centre of a massive manhunt continued to evade capture today as police revealed they have found his makeshift campsite and a letter written to his ex-girlfriend.
Raoul Moat had vanished by the time firearms officer found his tent at a moorland hide-out near Rothbury in Northumberland - an area they have now been searching for 24 hours.
The letter was addressed to Sam Stobbart, the former lover he shot in the stomach last Saturday after he killed her new boyfriend Chris Brown.
Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Adamson said that the contents of the eight-page missive were 'highly personal between the two'.
Mr Adamson said Moat's letter tries to justify why he murdered Mr Brown, reiterating his belief that he was a police officer, but gave no further details of the contents.
Police believe the deranged former bouncer - who has now been on the run for five days - is still in the area and today put up a £10,000 reward for information that leads directly to his capture.
Hideout: The secluded spot outside Rothbury where Raoul Moat set up a makeshift camp
Too late: Poles from Moat's tent, which was taken by police. The gunman vanished before the site was found
The latest developments came as Miss Stobbart's father Paul issued a heartfelt appeal, urging Moat - the father of his grandchild Chanel - to hand himself in.
'Raoul, son, please this has to stop, we don't want anyone else hurt, nee more son. Raoul, everything you are doing is jeopardising my relationship with my grandchildren - you know they mean the world to me. They are my life, simple as that,' he said.
'You know, Raoul, the children are number one, nothing will happen to them. I will make sure of that. What sort of legacy is this for your daughter?'
The lockdown in Rothbury has been slightly relaxed but armed police were still all over the village today. They were even on duty at the school gates as children arrived for lessons.
Nothing left to lose: Moat in 2003 with his daughter. Police are trying to convince the gunman that he still has something to live for
Northumbria Police, who are already working with five other forces from surrounding regions, are now also being helped by the Mountain Rescue Service.
Northern Ireland Police have also sent over 20 armoured 4x4 Mitsubishi Shoguns in a bid to help.
Acting Chief Constable Sue Sim declared today: 'Let me stress, no stone will be unturned in the search for Mr Moat.'
She tried to reassure the public they were unlikely to be targeted, adding: 'We remain convinced the main danger is aimed towards the police.'
Remote: Police marksmen lying in wait in the hills as a lone cow looks on bemused
Venturing out: Residents in picturesque Rothbury were getting back to normal today as the lockdown was relaxed
The gunman is believed to be holed up in woodland outside the village, which is about 30 miles north of Newcastle, with two shotguns and enough ammunition to slaughter dozens of officers.
There were fears he could have slipped the net after dumping a car he had been using to try to throw police off the scene but Mr Adamson insists he is probably still nearby.
Enlarge
'We have established that Mr Moat has been living rough in a tent in a secluded spot near to Rothbury. We have recovered the tent and other items from the scene,' he said.
'This includes another letter, purportedly from Mr Moat. This is an eight-page hand-written document addressed to Samantha Stobbart. The contents is very much personal between the two.
'In it Mr Moat reasserts his belief that Samantha's partner was a police officer. I repeat, this was not the case.'
Issuing yet another direct appeal, he added: 'Mr Moat, I have said it before and I will say it again. We want to apprehend you safely. Please give yourself up.'
Bizarrely, he also gave a fresh description of 37-year-old Moat - including that he is right-handed, has a Size 12 shoe and could be carrying a carrier bag.
The gunman is thought to be wearing a grey or light blue hoodie, red T-shirt, dark coloured jeans and white trainers, he said.
There has not been a definite sighting of Moat since he went on the run at the weekend after shooting Miss Stobbart and killing her new lover Chris Brown in Gateshead, and blasting a PC.
But police now believe it was him who held up a fish and chip shop in Blyth on Monday night and left on foot with cash from the till.
Horror: PC David Rathband asked for this picture of him to be released in a bid to help catch gunman Raoul Thomas Moat. Moat shot the police officer in cold blood shortly after shooting two others, his former partner and her new lover
Resident Chris Biggs, 52, saw a 'well-built guy' walk off after the raid just before 11pm and then get into a dark saloon car then drive off.
Detectives have been taking advice from a psychologist and believe Moat is a 'measured' man who seems to be carefully planning his actions.
At work: Moat doing his job as a tree surgeon. He once ran a gardening business
Attack: Moat's ex-girlfriend Sam Stobbart and her new partner Chris Brown. Sam survived the attack.
The letter found at the campsite is the second missive to give glimpses into his psyche. The first, which runs to 49 pages, was hand-delivered to a friend on Monday who was told to give it to police.
Dubbed a 'murder statement' by Moat, it contained a declaration of war against police and the vow that he would keep killing officers until he was dead.
New details revealed today show it also lists a string of other people he bore grudges against, including social workers, environmental officers, former friends and relatives of Miss Stobbart.
He threatens to 'shoot the liars' he believes wrecked his relationship and says: 'I've a good mind to come back and shoot them.'
KITTED OUT TO CATCH A MONSTER
Enlarge
Bristling with weapons and armour, this is one of the police marksmen.
Each was armed with a Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifle that can fire 25 rounds, and a Glock 17 SLP 9mm pistol, which carries 17 rounds.
They also had a Heckler and Koch L104A1 37mm single-shot launcher which fires rubber baton rounds, a Taser X26 that is capable of firing 50,000 volts up to 21 feet and AEP (Attenuating Energy Projectile) baton rounds which can be fired 100 yards.
They wore helmets capable of withstanding 9mm shotgun, rifle and handgun ammunition, body armour, shields and goggles.
They also carried Airwave radios fitted with an earpiece, a torch, handcuffs and extra rounds for the G36 rifle.
Many people who came into contact with Moat are living in fear, hoping he will be found before striking again. Several have been given police protection.
His letter gives an insight into why he bears such a grudge against police and shows why his former lover's decision to claim her new boyfriend was a policeman - in a bid to scare off Moat - only served to fuel his anger.
The former bouncer wrote: 'Had he been an ordinary guy and not police, I wouldn't have shot him.'
In fact, Chris Brown was a karate teacher.
Police and Miss Stobbart herself have stressed Mr Brown was not an officer - but the second letter found in Rothbury shows Moat still does not believe it.
The latest developments came as a close friend revealed Moat called him minutes after shooting the couple in the early hours of Saturday.
Anthony Wright was stunned when the gunman rang at 3am to say: 'I've just done the f*******' and did not realise what he meant at first.
As it dawned, he asked: 'Are they ok?' Moat replied: 'She's all right but he's f*****. He's gone.'
Mr Wright told the Mirror: 'Raoul knew my house phone number off by heart because we used to speak all the time when he was in prison. I was still half asleep when he rang at around 3am. He told me he couldn't take any more.
'He said he'd been listening to Sam, her mam and her boyfriend slagging him off for two hours - calling him a mug and saying he'd get battered if he ever went there.
'He was very calm. There was no panic. But I could sense the adrenalin in his voice. Then he said: "I love you kid".
'He told me he had two shots left and he was going to use them to kill himself. I told him not to but he said he had to go and promised to phone again. That was the last I heard from him.'
Mr Wright said Moat believed Northumbria Police has a vendetta against him and his anger at the force has been building for years.
The former bouncer had tried to clean up his act and start afresh but felt police would not leave him alone, he said. 'I can’t put into words just how much he hates coppers.'
Moat's friend believes Miss Stobbart's story that she was now dating a policeman will have been the final straw and pushed him over the edge.
The focus of the operation swept to Rothbury, about 30 miles north of the scene of the shootings in Gateshead, yesterday after Moat's black Lexus saloon was found parked in an industrial car park.
The burly 6ft 3in bodybuilder is believed to have fled on foot after abandoning his car in the village.
Some 300 armed officers set up a two-mile exclusion zone as they searched a number of farms and abandoned buildings as it appeared the net was closing in.
Terrified schoolchildren were locked in their classroom as a mystery man believed to be the gunman was seen lurking nearby. Police dealt with a string of other possible sightings but failed to find him.
Manhunt: A firearms officer checking a map today as police continue to search for Moat in the area
Northumbria Police statement
At 2.40am on Sat, July 3 police received calls of gunshots fired in the vicinity of Scafell, Birtley.
It was quickly established that a man armed with a shotgun type weapon had fired it, fatally injuring a man called Chris Brown and seriously wounding his girlfriend Samantha Stobbart.
Chris Brown, 29, had recently moved to the Gateshead area from Slough, to take up a job as a karate instructor.
Samantha Stobbart, who lives in Birtley, had only recently started a relationship with Mr Brown. She suffered significant injuries, having been shot at the scene.
She is currently in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
As you’ll be aware our enquires have led us to believe that the man we are looking for in connection with these incidents is a man called Raoul Thomas Moat, who is 37, from Fenham, Newcastle.
He was recently released from prison, having served a short sentence for assault.
It is vitally important that we quickly establish contact with Mr Moat in order to resolve these issues.
First of all I need the help of the public now to provide me with information which will lead to Mr Moat’s whereabouts. Mr Moat is clearly dangerous and under no circumstances should any member of the public approach him.
Anyone with any information regarding Mr Moat should contact the police as a matter or urgency.
The best way to resolve this issue is for Mr Moat to make direct contact with the police and I would like to make a personal appeal to him.
Yesterday you contacted the police and it is clear that you believe certain things to be true which I would like to clarify with you now.
You have told us that the police are not taking you seriously. We are. I want you to know that you have our full attention, innocent people have been hurt. This must stop now.
You believe that Sam was having an affair with a Northumbria Police officer. Sam has told us this is not true. Our enquiries have verified this.
Chris Brown, who was shot and killed yesterday, was not and never has been a Northumbria Police officer or in any way connected with Northumbria Police.
Sam is injured but will live. PC Rathband, shot in the early hours of today, was seriously injured and is critical in hospital.
You have expressed concern for the future wellbeing of your children. For their sake this needs to stop now. Whatever has happened you are their father and always will be.
These are not the memories that your children need to have of their father.
Enough people have been hurt. You now need to make contact with the police.
Officers swooped on two suspected accomplices who had been masquerading as hostages and held them on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
On Monday detectives had been so concerned for the safety of the men that they requested that the Daily Mail did not publish any details after Moat boasted that he had taken hostages, taunting police through phone calls and an astonishing 49-page handwritten confession.
Police said a white male and an Asian male were 'potentially being controlled by Mr Moat' and a news blackout was necessary to 'mitigate any potential threat to them'.
But later the two men were found safe and well in Rothbury without their so-called captor, and were arrested. They are still in custody today.
Armed officers stormed one dilapidated empty farm outbuilding where he and his two suspected accomplices had been hiding out.
Farmer Jessica Taylor alerted police after seeing smoke coming from fields where the killer is believed to have been camping.
She went to Rothbury police station at 9.30am yesterday but it was an hour and a half before armed officers arrived to investigate her report.
Firearms officers searched a stone cottage three miles outside Rothbury last night after a young family returned home to find their garden shed had been broken into.
Alarmed and frightened, the couple and their two young children drove to friend Robert Storer's home nearby after making the discovery around 10pm.
They carried out a proper check and found the downstairs doors were secured and that the property seemed undisturbed. But later they realised a patio door and curtains had been opened.
Police spent 70 minutes outside the home with guns trained on the property. An officer was heard shouting 'Armed police - show yourself now' and heat-seeking equipment appeared to have been trained on the walls to detect possible life sources inside before officers eventually moved in.
The convoy of three armed response vehicles and a police riot van left the scene a short time later after ruling the alert was a false alarm.
Swoop: Armed police arresting a woman in the west of Newcastle today in connection to the Moat case
Closing in: Firearms officers also arrested a man at the same property
The gunman knows Rothbury well after dating a teenager from the village 16 years ago. Moat was 21 and on a camping trip when he met Yvette Foreman, then 19.
On Monday, fearing for her own safety Miss Foreman contacted police, only to find her own home raided yesterday morning by armed police looking for Moat.
The waitress and her mother Eileen, 66, were in their dressing gowns when police pulled up at about 11am, and scoured the house looking for Moat.
Speaking after the search, Miss Foreman said police had simply been doing their job and she said she was terrified by her connection to the killer gunman.
'He would definitely know his way round. It's his favourite place in the whole world. He knows the woods and hills like the back of his hand,' he said.
She said police took away some old letters from Moat, one containing a violent fantasy in which he described plans to batter a rival with a baseball bat.
Moat's ex-girlfriend Yvette Foreman, who lives in Rothbury. She says he could hide there for days
Miss Foreman contacted police on Sunday night after realising her ex-boyfriend was a wanted man. She then took his letters in to her local police station, 'I said to them "he'll come up here",' she said.
'I knew he'd come here. It's his favourite place in the whole world. We'd go camping and fishing here loads when we were younger, almost every weekend, and he knows the woods and hills like the back of his hand.
'There's so much woodland and so many little nooks and crags out there I think he could hide out for days. It was not until I showed the local police his old letters that they took me seriously.'
Describing his recent behaviour as 'wildly' different from that of the man she remembers, she said: 'I can't believe what has happened. He should give himself up. The police must have upset him and he's out for revenge on them and whatever exes he's got, apart from me.
'It could be all the steroids he's pumped into his body or it could be the heartbreak. That could have tipped him over the edge.'
Moat became Britain's most wanted man after he shot his ex-partner and killed her new lover in the early hours of Saturday.
The father of three targeted Miss Stobbart, 22, hours after he was released from Durham Prison where he had served a short sentence for assault.
She was left in a critical condition and karate instructor Mr Brown, 29, was killed in the shooting in the Scafell area of Birtley, Gateshead.
Almost 24 hours later, married father of two PC David Rathband, 42, was shot in his patrol car at a roundabout in East Denton, Newcastle.
He is still in a critical condition.
Ring of steel: Rothbury in Northumberland is the focus of the hunt
dailymail.co.uk
In the early hours of Saturday morning, bodybuilder and former bouncer Raoul Moat, 37, shot his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, 22, hours after he was released from Durham Prison in County Durham where he had served a short sentence for assault.
Miss Stobbart has been left in a critical condition in hospital after Moat shot through a window of her home in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Miss Stobbart's new boyfriend, karate instructor Chris Brown, 29, was shot dead as he ran from the same house.
Almost 24 hours later, Moat shot a cop. Married father of two PC David Rathband, 42, was shot in his patrol car at a roundabout in East Denton, Newcastle. He survived the attack and is recovering in hospital.
It's believed that Moat thought that Chris Brown was a police officer, developing a grudge against cops leading to him shooting Police Constable Rathband.
After the shootings, Moat went on the run and has now been a wanted man for five days.
He is believed to be near the village of Rothbury in Northumberland, England's most northerly county on the border with Scotland. The village is around 30 miles north of the city of Newcastle.
A two mile exclusion was placed around the village, and yesterday children in the village's schools were not allowed to leave until the police were sure it was safe to do so. Armed police officers are swarming the area in the hunt for Moat.
Police have also found Moat's abandoned car and also a tent and a makeshift campsite near the village. The killer has also been writing letters to the police taunting them. On Monday, a 49-page letter believed to be from Moat was handed to the police. Another was found yesterday at the makeshift campsite.
Northumbria Police, which is responsible for two counties - Northumberland and Tyne and Wear - are so desperate for Moat to be catched that they have now issued a £10,000 reward for info leading to his capture.
Cops in Northern Ireland have also sent over 20 armoured 4x4 Mitsubishi Shoguns in a bid to help the search.
He's given them the slip again! Police find fugitive's makeshift campsite and letter to ex-lover he gunned down - but no sign of the killer
By Mail Online Reporter
7th July 2010
Daily Mail
- Police find new letter at makeshift camp site near Rothbury
- Village still focus of the manhunt as gunman hides out
- £10,000 reward offered for information that leads to Moat
- After first attack, he told friend: 'I've done the f******, he's gone'
- Police say raid on fish and chip shop on Monday WAS Moat
- His ex-girlfriend's father begs: 'Please, this has to stop'
The fugitive gunman at the centre of a massive manhunt continued to evade capture today as police revealed they have found his makeshift campsite and a letter written to his ex-girlfriend.
Raoul Moat had vanished by the time firearms officer found his tent at a moorland hide-out near Rothbury in Northumberland - an area they have now been searching for 24 hours.
The letter was addressed to Sam Stobbart, the former lover he shot in the stomach last Saturday after he killed her new boyfriend Chris Brown.
Detective Chief Superintendent Neil Adamson said that the contents of the eight-page missive were 'highly personal between the two'.
Mr Adamson said Moat's letter tries to justify why he murdered Mr Brown, reiterating his belief that he was a police officer, but gave no further details of the contents.
Police believe the deranged former bouncer - who has now been on the run for five days - is still in the area and today put up a £10,000 reward for information that leads directly to his capture.
Hideout: The secluded spot outside Rothbury where Raoul Moat set up a makeshift camp
Too late: Poles from Moat's tent, which was taken by police. The gunman vanished before the site was found
The latest developments came as Miss Stobbart's father Paul issued a heartfelt appeal, urging Moat - the father of his grandchild Chanel - to hand himself in.
'Raoul, son, please this has to stop, we don't want anyone else hurt, nee more son. Raoul, everything you are doing is jeopardising my relationship with my grandchildren - you know they mean the world to me. They are my life, simple as that,' he said.
'You know, Raoul, the children are number one, nothing will happen to them. I will make sure of that. What sort of legacy is this for your daughter?'
The lockdown in Rothbury has been slightly relaxed but armed police were still all over the village today. They were even on duty at the school gates as children arrived for lessons.
Nothing left to lose: Moat in 2003 with his daughter. Police are trying to convince the gunman that he still has something to live for
Northumbria Police, who are already working with five other forces from surrounding regions, are now also being helped by the Mountain Rescue Service.
Northern Ireland Police have also sent over 20 armoured 4x4 Mitsubishi Shoguns in a bid to help.
Acting Chief Constable Sue Sim declared today: 'Let me stress, no stone will be unturned in the search for Mr Moat.'
She tried to reassure the public they were unlikely to be targeted, adding: 'We remain convinced the main danger is aimed towards the police.'
Remote: Police marksmen lying in wait in the hills as a lone cow looks on bemused
Venturing out: Residents in picturesque Rothbury were getting back to normal today as the lockdown was relaxed
The gunman is believed to be holed up in woodland outside the village, which is about 30 miles north of Newcastle, with two shotguns and enough ammunition to slaughter dozens of officers.
There were fears he could have slipped the net after dumping a car he had been using to try to throw police off the scene but Mr Adamson insists he is probably still nearby.
Enlarge
'We have established that Mr Moat has been living rough in a tent in a secluded spot near to Rothbury. We have recovered the tent and other items from the scene,' he said.
'This includes another letter, purportedly from Mr Moat. This is an eight-page hand-written document addressed to Samantha Stobbart. The contents is very much personal between the two.
'In it Mr Moat reasserts his belief that Samantha's partner was a police officer. I repeat, this was not the case.'
Issuing yet another direct appeal, he added: 'Mr Moat, I have said it before and I will say it again. We want to apprehend you safely. Please give yourself up.'
Bizarrely, he also gave a fresh description of 37-year-old Moat - including that he is right-handed, has a Size 12 shoe and could be carrying a carrier bag.
The gunman is thought to be wearing a grey or light blue hoodie, red T-shirt, dark coloured jeans and white trainers, he said.
There has not been a definite sighting of Moat since he went on the run at the weekend after shooting Miss Stobbart and killing her new lover Chris Brown in Gateshead, and blasting a PC.
But police now believe it was him who held up a fish and chip shop in Blyth on Monday night and left on foot with cash from the till.
Horror: PC David Rathband asked for this picture of him to be released in a bid to help catch gunman Raoul Thomas Moat. Moat shot the police officer in cold blood shortly after shooting two others, his former partner and her new lover
Resident Chris Biggs, 52, saw a 'well-built guy' walk off after the raid just before 11pm and then get into a dark saloon car then drive off.
Detectives have been taking advice from a psychologist and believe Moat is a 'measured' man who seems to be carefully planning his actions.
At work: Moat doing his job as a tree surgeon. He once ran a gardening business
Attack: Moat's ex-girlfriend Sam Stobbart and her new partner Chris Brown. Sam survived the attack.
The letter found at the campsite is the second missive to give glimpses into his psyche. The first, which runs to 49 pages, was hand-delivered to a friend on Monday who was told to give it to police.
Dubbed a 'murder statement' by Moat, it contained a declaration of war against police and the vow that he would keep killing officers until he was dead.
New details revealed today show it also lists a string of other people he bore grudges against, including social workers, environmental officers, former friends and relatives of Miss Stobbart.
He threatens to 'shoot the liars' he believes wrecked his relationship and says: 'I've a good mind to come back and shoot them.'
KITTED OUT TO CATCH A MONSTER
Enlarge
Bristling with weapons and armour, this is one of the police marksmen.
Each was armed with a Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifle that can fire 25 rounds, and a Glock 17 SLP 9mm pistol, which carries 17 rounds.
They also had a Heckler and Koch L104A1 37mm single-shot launcher which fires rubber baton rounds, a Taser X26 that is capable of firing 50,000 volts up to 21 feet and AEP (Attenuating Energy Projectile) baton rounds which can be fired 100 yards.
They wore helmets capable of withstanding 9mm shotgun, rifle and handgun ammunition, body armour, shields and goggles.
They also carried Airwave radios fitted with an earpiece, a torch, handcuffs and extra rounds for the G36 rifle.
Many people who came into contact with Moat are living in fear, hoping he will be found before striking again. Several have been given police protection.
His letter gives an insight into why he bears such a grudge against police and shows why his former lover's decision to claim her new boyfriend was a policeman - in a bid to scare off Moat - only served to fuel his anger.
The former bouncer wrote: 'Had he been an ordinary guy and not police, I wouldn't have shot him.'
In fact, Chris Brown was a karate teacher.
Police and Miss Stobbart herself have stressed Mr Brown was not an officer - but the second letter found in Rothbury shows Moat still does not believe it.
The latest developments came as a close friend revealed Moat called him minutes after shooting the couple in the early hours of Saturday.
Anthony Wright was stunned when the gunman rang at 3am to say: 'I've just done the f*******' and did not realise what he meant at first.
As it dawned, he asked: 'Are they ok?' Moat replied: 'She's all right but he's f*****. He's gone.'
Mr Wright told the Mirror: 'Raoul knew my house phone number off by heart because we used to speak all the time when he was in prison. I was still half asleep when he rang at around 3am. He told me he couldn't take any more.
'He said he'd been listening to Sam, her mam and her boyfriend slagging him off for two hours - calling him a mug and saying he'd get battered if he ever went there.
'He was very calm. There was no panic. But I could sense the adrenalin in his voice. Then he said: "I love you kid".
'He told me he had two shots left and he was going to use them to kill himself. I told him not to but he said he had to go and promised to phone again. That was the last I heard from him.'
Mr Wright said Moat believed Northumbria Police has a vendetta against him and his anger at the force has been building for years.
The former bouncer had tried to clean up his act and start afresh but felt police would not leave him alone, he said. 'I can’t put into words just how much he hates coppers.'
Moat's friend believes Miss Stobbart's story that she was now dating a policeman will have been the final straw and pushed him over the edge.
The focus of the operation swept to Rothbury, about 30 miles north of the scene of the shootings in Gateshead, yesterday after Moat's black Lexus saloon was found parked in an industrial car park.
The burly 6ft 3in bodybuilder is believed to have fled on foot after abandoning his car in the village.
Some 300 armed officers set up a two-mile exclusion zone as they searched a number of farms and abandoned buildings as it appeared the net was closing in.
Terrified schoolchildren were locked in their classroom as a mystery man believed to be the gunman was seen lurking nearby. Police dealt with a string of other possible sightings but failed to find him.
Manhunt: A firearms officer checking a map today as police continue to search for Moat in the area
Northumbria Police statement
At 2.40am on Sat, July 3 police received calls of gunshots fired in the vicinity of Scafell, Birtley.
It was quickly established that a man armed with a shotgun type weapon had fired it, fatally injuring a man called Chris Brown and seriously wounding his girlfriend Samantha Stobbart.
Chris Brown, 29, had recently moved to the Gateshead area from Slough, to take up a job as a karate instructor.
Samantha Stobbart, who lives in Birtley, had only recently started a relationship with Mr Brown. She suffered significant injuries, having been shot at the scene.
She is currently in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
As you’ll be aware our enquires have led us to believe that the man we are looking for in connection with these incidents is a man called Raoul Thomas Moat, who is 37, from Fenham, Newcastle.
He was recently released from prison, having served a short sentence for assault.
It is vitally important that we quickly establish contact with Mr Moat in order to resolve these issues.
First of all I need the help of the public now to provide me with information which will lead to Mr Moat’s whereabouts. Mr Moat is clearly dangerous and under no circumstances should any member of the public approach him.
Anyone with any information regarding Mr Moat should contact the police as a matter or urgency.
The best way to resolve this issue is for Mr Moat to make direct contact with the police and I would like to make a personal appeal to him.
Yesterday you contacted the police and it is clear that you believe certain things to be true which I would like to clarify with you now.
You have told us that the police are not taking you seriously. We are. I want you to know that you have our full attention, innocent people have been hurt. This must stop now.
You believe that Sam was having an affair with a Northumbria Police officer. Sam has told us this is not true. Our enquiries have verified this.
Chris Brown, who was shot and killed yesterday, was not and never has been a Northumbria Police officer or in any way connected with Northumbria Police.
Sam is injured but will live. PC Rathband, shot in the early hours of today, was seriously injured and is critical in hospital.
You have expressed concern for the future wellbeing of your children. For their sake this needs to stop now. Whatever has happened you are their father and always will be.
These are not the memories that your children need to have of their father.
Enough people have been hurt. You now need to make contact with the police.
Officers swooped on two suspected accomplices who had been masquerading as hostages and held them on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
On Monday detectives had been so concerned for the safety of the men that they requested that the Daily Mail did not publish any details after Moat boasted that he had taken hostages, taunting police through phone calls and an astonishing 49-page handwritten confession.
Police said a white male and an Asian male were 'potentially being controlled by Mr Moat' and a news blackout was necessary to 'mitigate any potential threat to them'.
But later the two men were found safe and well in Rothbury without their so-called captor, and were arrested. They are still in custody today.
Armed officers stormed one dilapidated empty farm outbuilding where he and his two suspected accomplices had been hiding out.
Farmer Jessica Taylor alerted police after seeing smoke coming from fields where the killer is believed to have been camping.
She went to Rothbury police station at 9.30am yesterday but it was an hour and a half before armed officers arrived to investigate her report.
Firearms officers searched a stone cottage three miles outside Rothbury last night after a young family returned home to find their garden shed had been broken into.
Alarmed and frightened, the couple and their two young children drove to friend Robert Storer's home nearby after making the discovery around 10pm.
They carried out a proper check and found the downstairs doors were secured and that the property seemed undisturbed. But later they realised a patio door and curtains had been opened.
Police spent 70 minutes outside the home with guns trained on the property. An officer was heard shouting 'Armed police - show yourself now' and heat-seeking equipment appeared to have been trained on the walls to detect possible life sources inside before officers eventually moved in.
The convoy of three armed response vehicles and a police riot van left the scene a short time later after ruling the alert was a false alarm.
Swoop: Armed police arresting a woman in the west of Newcastle today in connection to the Moat case
Closing in: Firearms officers also arrested a man at the same property
The gunman knows Rothbury well after dating a teenager from the village 16 years ago. Moat was 21 and on a camping trip when he met Yvette Foreman, then 19.
On Monday, fearing for her own safety Miss Foreman contacted police, only to find her own home raided yesterday morning by armed police looking for Moat.
The waitress and her mother Eileen, 66, were in their dressing gowns when police pulled up at about 11am, and scoured the house looking for Moat.
Speaking after the search, Miss Foreman said police had simply been doing their job and she said she was terrified by her connection to the killer gunman.
'He would definitely know his way round. It's his favourite place in the whole world. He knows the woods and hills like the back of his hand,' he said.
She said police took away some old letters from Moat, one containing a violent fantasy in which he described plans to batter a rival with a baseball bat.
Moat's ex-girlfriend Yvette Foreman, who lives in Rothbury. She says he could hide there for days
Miss Foreman contacted police on Sunday night after realising her ex-boyfriend was a wanted man. She then took his letters in to her local police station, 'I said to them "he'll come up here",' she said.
'I knew he'd come here. It's his favourite place in the whole world. We'd go camping and fishing here loads when we were younger, almost every weekend, and he knows the woods and hills like the back of his hand.
'There's so much woodland and so many little nooks and crags out there I think he could hide out for days. It was not until I showed the local police his old letters that they took me seriously.'
Describing his recent behaviour as 'wildly' different from that of the man she remembers, she said: 'I can't believe what has happened. He should give himself up. The police must have upset him and he's out for revenge on them and whatever exes he's got, apart from me.
'It could be all the steroids he's pumped into his body or it could be the heartbreak. That could have tipped him over the edge.'
Moat became Britain's most wanted man after he shot his ex-partner and killed her new lover in the early hours of Saturday.
The father of three targeted Miss Stobbart, 22, hours after he was released from Durham Prison where he had served a short sentence for assault.
She was left in a critical condition and karate instructor Mr Brown, 29, was killed in the shooting in the Scafell area of Birtley, Gateshead.
Almost 24 hours later, married father of two PC David Rathband, 42, was shot in his patrol car at a roundabout in East Denton, Newcastle.
He is still in a critical condition.
Ring of steel: Rothbury in Northumberland is the focus of the hunt
dailymail.co.uk
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