Local communities in Skye and Wester Ross have told of their shock following a gun rampage which left one man dead and three other people in hospital.
Police Scotland officers rushed to Tarskavaig, Skye, around 9am on Wednesday to reports of a 32-year-old woman being seriously injured.
The woman has been named locally as Rowena MacDonald, who is understood to have been stabbed. She was seriously inured and has been taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment.
A short while later, officers were called to a nearby property in the Teangue area after a report of a firearm being discharged at around 9.30am.
Emergency services raced to the scene but sadly a 47-year-old man was pronounced dead at the property. Police later named him as Scots dad John MacKinnon.
Officers subsequently attended at a property in the Dornie area in Wester Ross following further reports of a firearm discharged.
The victims of this incident have been named locally as popular osteopath John Don Mackenzie and his wife Fay.
John was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for treatment to serious injuries and Fay was taken to Broadford Hospital in Skye.
A 39-year-old man has been arrested in connection with all of the incidents, which are being treated as linked. He was also taken to Raigmore Hospital.
Residents in the Highland communities have taken to social media to express their shock at the events of August 10, which unfolded shortly before 9am and have shaken an otherwise tranquil region of Scotland to the core.
One said: "Such a terrible thing to happen in such a beautiful, quiet and friendly place." Another added: "Truly dreadful and so unexpected in this peaceful and beautiful place. A sad day indeed."
A third local wrote: "Awful news, a sad day for the Highlands and my thoughts are with everyone involved." While a fourth said: "So very sorry to read this - a very dark day for the West."
Another resident lamented in Gaelic "Uamhasach" - meaning terrible, awful or shocking. While another said: "Terrible news - thoughts and prayers to them all. Praise to all the emergency services who no doubt had limited ever-changing information yet still pursued and arrested the individual."
Chief Superintendent Conrad Trickett acknowledged the shockwaves the incident had sent through the community in a media briefing earlier on Thursday, telling reporters: "These incidents took place in a close-knit rural area and have a significant impact not only on those directly affected but also friends and their neighbours living in these communities.
"Serious incidents witnessed yesterday are extremely rare and I would like to further reassure the local communities that they were dealt with and there is no further threat."
Asked if there would be additional firearms checks in the area, he said: "There is a vigorous process around firearms licensing that involves both local officers, the divisional firearms licensing team, who are specialists in the area, and national firearms licensing. All licences are reviewed as per the legislation and that will continue in an ongoing way."
The horrifying incident has prompted calls to review Scotland's already stringent laws on guns. Handgun ownership was banned across the UK in 1997 in the wake of the Dunblane massacre. Scotland also requires separate certificates to buy and own firearms, with additional certificates required for shotguns and, since 2016, airguns.
Ian Blackford, SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, told BBC Radio Scotland earlier on Thursday: "These are very controversial topics and of course, in these rural areas, we’re all aware there are applications from time to time for people that have licences for guns particularly when it comes to agricultural matters.
“Given what we have seen over the course of the last 24 hours, it is right and proper that we continue to look at the regulations that we have in place for the very simple reason that all of us have got a responsibility to keep people safe.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Thursday: "Obviously, the kind of incidents that happened yesterday would have been horrific and devastating in any part of the country. But the kind of communities we're talking about here are small, close-knit communities and that sense of devastation will be felt even more acutely."
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