An inquest into the fatal shooting of St Neots man Richard Davies has heard six shots were fired from the window of his Duck Lane home as armed police officers arrived at the scene.

The hearing, taking place at Peterborough Town Hall, was told Mr Davies was “hanging out of the living room window and shouting obscenities at police officers”.

One police office reported seeing a flash of an object in Mr Davies’s hand and hearing a muffled bang. Another officer, referred to at the hearing as N6, reported to his commanding officer that “a male had discharged some kind of weapon”.

When I7, the officer who fired the fatal shot, arrived at the scene he immediately took cover as a second bang was heard and then, 60 seconds later, a third.

Mr Davies was then seen at an upstairs window and continued shouting obscenities. At that point, I7 saw Mr Davies with what he believed was a handgun but with a longer barrel.

Two more shots were fired in quick succession and I7 took a step back. The jury heard I7 was concerned and fired at the same moment Mr Davies fired his sixth shot. Officers then broke into the house and found Mr Davies lying on the landing bleeding profusely and unresponsive. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

A box of ammunition was found in the bedroom of child B. The hearing was told Mr Davies’s gun was not capable of rapid succession as it had to be manually loaded and re-loaded.

Coroner’s assistant Nicholas Moss has said that during the next two and half weeks the jury would consider several issues.

These will include Mr Davies’s personality and mental health, the choice of ammunition used by the armed officers, and the response to the incident.

In outlining matters to be explored, Mr Moss said: “Could I7 have used less force and what were the reasons I7 acted as he did and was it reasonable?”

The hearing continues