Retired police inspector shot dead
1:08pm Sunday 3rd March 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013
Police are investigating after two bodies were found at a property in Wiltshire
A man found shot dead alongside his female partner was a retired police inspector of 30 years' service, a detective have said.
The pair were found dead at a property in Wiltshire on Saturday morning after neighbours alerted the police having heard gunshots.
Detective Chief Inspector Ian Saunders said the man, who has not been named, retired about five or six years ago.
The detective also confirmed that the woman was not the man's wife, but his partner. Mr Saunders said the bodies were discovered inside the porch.
"The investigation has so far identified that yesterday morning some neighbours overheard a number of gunshots from the address," he said.
"The investigation continues to try and establish what led to this tragic incident."
The man was named locally today as Bill Dowling, and his partner Vicky.
One neighbour on the 50-property cul-de-sac, who asked not to be named, said she heard a single gunshot shortly before 8.40am yesterday.
She said: "I thought it sounded like a bang on my door. I didn't really think too much of it, so I went out to the shops. It was only a few hours later when I had a call from my son to come home that I put two and two together and realised what had happened."
She said Mr Dowling lived alone at the two-storey property, but was regularly visited by his partner.
