Police officer only realised he had been shot when doctors found a bullet in his mouth

A Lincolnshire Police officer, who was involved in a 12-hour armed stand-off, only realised he had been shot when doctors found a bullet in his mouth. The unnamed officer was taken to hospital after the police car in which he was travelling was fired at in the village of Sutton St James, Lincolnshire, last week.

He was one of two unarmed officers who initially attended the home of Barry Stephen Horspool following reports of a man with a firearm on Tuesday morning. Armed officers were later deployed to the scene from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.


Photo from SWNS.

Police forces and residents of the sleepy village near the Norfolk border were asked to stay indoors while they dealt with the incident. After attempts to negotiate with Mr Horspool, police later entered the property and found the 61-year-old dead in an upstairs room at 10.30pm.

A spokeswoman for Lincolnshire Police said the bullet found in the officer's mouth was being examined by ballistics. The spokeswoman said: "I've not seen it but it can't have been a large bullet otherwise he would have realised. It is currently being looked at by our ballistics team whose findings will help form part of our investigation into the incident". The spokeswoman confirmed the officer was treated and discharged on the same day.