Raoul Moat standoff (scene of suicide)

The 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt was a major police operation in North East England in which armed police officers under the command of the Northumbria Police force attempted to apprehend Raoul Moat, a 37-year-old man from Newcastle upon Tyne recently released from Durham Prison. Moat, armed with a sawn-off shotgun, was believed to have shot three people, his ex-girlfriend Samantha Stobbart, her new partner Chris Brown, and a police officer, David Rathband. Brown was killed, while Stobbart and Rathband remain hospitalised, seriously injured. After six days on the run, on 9 July Moat was recognised by police and contained.

News agencies reported that an individual resembling Moat had been surrounded by police, and was holding a gun to his head. With a 100 metres (330 ft) cordon established on the north bank of the River Coquet, close to a rainwater culvert which runs under the village, police negotiated with the suspect, who was holding a sawn-off shotgun to his neck. Food and water were reportedly brought to Moat during the confrontation, and his best friend Tony Laidler was escorted to the scene by authorities in an attempt to persuade him to surrender. At one stage, former England footballer Paul Gascoigne arrived at the crime scene claiming to know Moat.

At approximately 1:15 am on 10 July, news agencies reported that at least one shot had been fired in the vicinity of the stand-off. At 1:34 am, a police spokesman stated that "a shot or shots" had been fired and the suspect had a gunshot wound to the head.

After the shooting, Moat was transferred to an ambulance and taken to Newcastle General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:20 am, shortly after arrival.