In a statement, Hertfordshire police said officers were called to the Hunt family’s home just before 7 p.m. Tuesday and found the women seriously injured. All three died at the scene.
Police said they have been searching since Tuesday night for a suspect, Kyle Clifford, 26, who is believed to be in Hertfordshire or north London. Officers said the women were shot in an apparently “targeted incident.”
“The manhunt also involves armed police officers and specialist search teams responding at pace in the wake of what has been a horrific incident, involving what is currently believed to be a crossbow, but other weapons may also have been used,” the Hertfordshire police chief, Superintendent Jon Simpson, said at a news conference Wednesday.
Two helicopters were circling parts of the borough of Enfield in north London, where Clifford is from, and armed police raided an Enfield property, according the Independent newspaper.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who took office last week after the Labour Party’s election victory, is considering tougher crossbow laws and will assess the findings of a Home Office review carried out this year, British news outlets reported.
The previous government had considered tightening the laws involving crossbows after would-be assassin Jaswant Singh Chail tried to break into Windsor Castle and kill Queen Elizabeth II with such a weapon on Christmas morning in 2021.
Britain does not have a registration system or licensing requirement for ownership of a crossbow, though it is illegal for anyone younger than 18 to possess one.
In February, the Conservative government’s Home Office launched an eight-week review to consider implementing a licensing system and tighter restrictions on buying and selling crossbows, similar to regulations for firearms.
The office completed the review in April, but action was apparently stalled by the recent elections.
In a post Wednesday on X, Cooper called the killings “shocking” and said she is being kept “fully updated” on the investigation.
John Hunt’s fellow sports journalists and other figures from the racing world took to social media to express their condolences for the Hunt family.
“Impossible to comprehend the pain,” wrote ITV racing commentator Matt Chapman on X. “Just know we are all here for you John. We love you pal — racing loves you.”
