Thames Valley Police officers hailed for saving lives after taking down Bucks crossbow attacker who shot one of them

At around 6pm on 10 May 2024, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, a man stabbed his neighbour, a man in his 60s, in the stomach following an argument.

Thames Valley Police officers PC Curtis Foster, PC Cameron Parker-Graham, PC Mark Thompson, PC Milla Thomson, Sgt Ben Sarl and PC Chandler, as well as two officers who wish to remain anonymous, were called to the scene.

PC Thompson and another officer provided first aid to the victim, while the others surrounded the assailant’s house, where he had fled. They received information over the radio that the suspect could have weapons in his house, at which point it became an armed deployment. The officers were told that the armed units were some distance away.

Suddenly the suspect, Jason King, opened his door, holding a crossbow. He saw PC Foster standing in front of the house and then ran back inside. The officers took cover and then saw King removing a whole window from its frame. He stuck the crossbow out of the window and fired two shots, hitting the buildings next to where some of the officers were standing.

He went back inside and out into the back garden, attempting to reach PC Chandler and another officer, but he couldn’t break through the fence so he retreated back in. He then appeared at the front door again and ran into the street towards PC Foster.

PC Foster recalled: “He’s got the crossbow and he’s pointing it, and he’s running directly towards me. In that moment I completely froze. He had the biggest grin on his face and he was running towards me.

“As I ran round the corner, that’s when he took a shot. I felt something hit the back of my leg, but my adrenaline was through the roof. I just kept running, but I felt something running down the back of my leg, had a quick look and there was a stream of blood.”

King then continued to chase after PC Foster. They ran towards a park, where PC Parker-Graham was trying to evacuate families to safety. He said: “Curtis and I were in the park with a mother and her two young children. We were running out of the park and I shouted for her to do the same, but she didn’t seem to understand. So I scooped up one of her children and carried him to a nearby house, and the owner let us in and closed the door.”

PC Foster takes up the story: “I looked behind me and the suspect is still chasing me, and I could hear the trigger being pulled. I ran down an alleyway and by this point I was aware that I was bleeding a lot. I touched my trousers and the whole palm of my hand was red with blood.”

At this point, dog handler PC Thompson let his police dog, Merlyn, chase after the suspect. He said: “Merlyn was deployed to detain the man, at which point the suspect stopped chasing PC Foster and turned and faced me. I was about 25 metres away from him. He aimed the crossbow at me, before lowering it and aiming it at PD Merlyn. As PC Foster was no longer in imminent danger, I recalled Merlyn to prevent him from being shot. At this point, the suspect shot towards myself and Merlyn, but luckily he missed.”

Firearms officers PC Alexander Barker and PC Luke Wallis arrived at the scene. PC Barker recalled: “We were en route when we heard a shout over the radio stating that one of the officers had been shot and was leaking a lot of blood, about to die. We arrived on scene to that state of panic and confusion, that the offender was no longer housed within a building, but that he was out hunting Curtis and chasing him through the streets.”

PC Wallis said: “I think the thing that won’t ever leave me, was the terror in the police officer’s voice. It’s very rare in the police that we hear that kind of fear from our colleagues.”

He continued: “When we arrived at the scene, we were unable to locate the suspect, unable to locate Curtis, and I was thinking two things: one, is he dead, and two, am I about to get a crossbow bolt to the head or face? I remember thinking, ‘Are we going to get home from this today? Has Curtis catastrophically bled out? Is he in cardiac arrest?’. Everything went through our heads.”

The firearms officers eventually located King in the park, hiding behind a tree; when he saw them he aimed his crossbow at them. The officers decided Tasers and batons would not be effective against him and that they would need to use a firearm.

PC Barker said: “Unfortunately, the outcome was completely dictated by him choosing to continue to aim a lethal weapon at officers when we got there, and he’d already shot it at officers.”

The officers then used first aid to treat King’s wound. Meanwhile Sgt Sarl had located PC Foster, so he helped treat him and fetched paramedics to apply a tourniquet to his leg. PC Foster was taken to hospital and recovered, though he has a scar and is still receiving physiotherapy.

King was arrested and later pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent, affray, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article. The sentencing was deferred on the 31st January 2025.

When PC Foster heard that the team had won Bravery Awards, he said: “It was really nice, as a lot of good work goes unnoticed. Should we be faced with stuff like this? Absolutely not. But when we have to do something as a team, we can pull together. No one wants to get shot with a crossbow, but I’d much rather it was me than some poor innocent member of the public. Somebody could have died that day.”

PC Chandler added: “I was really pleased to receive an award. You don’t expect to go to work and have a crossbow pointed towards you. When I told my dad I got this award he said, ‘I’m just so proud of you’. Everyone’s been really positive.”

Thames Valley Police Federation Chair Aileen O’Connor said: “What an incredibly scary incident. The scene was incredibly dynamic and fast-moving. It escalated so quickly and the officers showed real teamwork and support for each other.

“They all displayed huge amounts of courage in what was a highly volatile situation, and ultimately prevented further members of the public being injured or killed. They are a tremendous ten Thames Valley Police officers, and we are very proud of their work.”

The officers will attend the 2025 Thames Valley Police Federation Bravery Awards on 1 May. At the event an overall winner or team will be announced, who will travel to London for the National Police Federation Bravery Awards in July.

The Thames Valley Police Federation Bravery Awards are in association with The Thames Valley Police Group Insurance Scheme.

Also sponsoring the Awards are Number5 Chambers, The National Police Healthcare Scheme, Uniform Mortgages, Niche, Serve and Protect Credit Union, Metfriendly, Accord, Police Mortgages, Flint House, Number1 Copperpot Credit Union and Police Mutual.