02/01/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Good afternoon. The bodies of three women and a man

have been found in a house in Peterlee in County Durham. It's

believed they died from gunshot wounds. Our reporter is in Peterlee

now. All day, this normally quiet street

has been cordoned off. You can see there is a police investigation.

The family in the house had been out with friends and returned just

before midnight. A short time later, neighbours said they heard shots

being fired and friends running away. At that point they called the

police. This morning, the task of examining the scene and removing

the bodies began. Police believe a man, named as Michael Atherton,

turned a gun on himself after shooting three women. He owned a

firearms licence. Friends and neighbours describe a happy and

friendly family. They were normal people who got on with their today

things. The would not think it. Their mother has always worked to

provide an she is lovely. It is a shop. I don't understand it at all,

I don't. They all seemed to be all right, you know? I just knew her to

talk to. They seemed like a lovely couple, they did. Three other

people were inside the house when the shooting started but managed to

escape. Once jumped out of an upstairs window. Detectives are

speaking to them all as they try and find out what led to the attack.

This is a murder investigation and we have deployed a homicide

investigation team. Our thoughts go to the family. We have officers

with the family now. We need to understand what happened.

Detectives had described the shootings as a tragedy and wild

horrific, they stressed this is an isolated act. They are not looking

for anyone else in connection with the murders. This evening, Durham

Police says it has a 70 officers working on the investigation. They

said they will not release the names of the four people who died

last night until of relatives have been informed.

Tributes are being paid to a soldier from Darlington who was

killed in an explosion in Afghanistan. Private John King was

19 and from 1st Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment. He was killed

in a blast in Helmand Province last Friday. His family say he died

doing the job he adored. Mountain rescuers have been thanked

for their efforts in recovering the body of the a 19 year-old

Derbyshire man who died while climbing Scafell Pike over the

weekend. -- Northern Rock is now officially

back in the private sector. Its acquisition by Virgin money has

been completed in a deal worth up to �8 billion. Labour had called

for the deal to be put on hold while the national auditor

investigates whether it's good value for money. The Newcastle-

based bank was nationalised three years ago after a massive public

bail-out. In the Football League Championship

today, Middlesbrough lost 3-0 at Blackpool this afternoon. In League

One, Carlisle beat Sheffield United 3-2 at home, while Hartlepool were

beaten at home by Scunthorpe, 2-1. In Scottish League Division Two,

Berwick Rangers drew 2 - 2 at home to Montrose.

Meanwhile, Sunderland fans are celebrating a dramatic last-gasp

winner in their match against Manchester City yesterday.

Substitute Ji Dong-Won came off the bench to score in the 4th minute of

injury-time, giving the Black Cats a fine start to 2012. The game

ended 1-0 and the result leaves Sunderland in 13th place in the

table, six points clear of the bottom three.

There is a Met Office warning for a strong wind over the next 24 hours

accompanied by wet weather. Most places where and windy by the end

of the night. Temperatures temporarily down to two or three

Celsius. Tomorrow morning the wind turns westerly. There will be every

bit as strong. There will be scattered wintry showers. It was a

windy throughout the day. Temperatures feeling cold in the