Birstall: Tearful residents laid flowers for their local MP Jo Cox on Thursday in a normally-sleepy corner of Yorkshire now bristling with security after the 41-year-old mother-of-two was gunned down.
As Britain struggled to comprehend a murder that has cast a shadow over next week's EU referendum, investigators in the northern English village of Birstall sealed off the home of the suspect.
Named in local media as Thomas Mair, police were seen conducting a forensic search of his garden.
Residents of the unassuming village, nestled in the Yorkshire hills, spoke of a "surreal" atmosphere as the world's media and a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch Prime Minister David Cameron and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn lay floral tributes.
"Today our nation is rightly shocked," said Cameron.
"She died doing her job.... Her values, service, community, tolerance -- those are the values we need to redouble in our national life," he said.
A statue honouring local historical figure Joseph Priestley, the 18th-century theologian and scientist credited with discovering oxygen, became the focal point for the mourning, with crying mothers carrying babies as they laid flowers.
Among the tributes was a handwritten message that read: "My heart breaks for your children. So many of your constituents are proud to have called you their MP. Our whole country is hurting right now."
Another read: "Jo, what a vile and tragic day."
- Champion of refugee rights -
Hichem Ben Abdallah, an eyewitness to the shooting, fought back tears as he told AFP he was still in shock at the killing -- the first murder of a serving British MP since 1990 when Ian Gow died in a car bomb planted by Irish Republican Army paramilitaries.
"She stood for peace and transparency, fighting corruption, wanted justice for all. I think her flame will carry on," said Ben Abdallah, who campaigned in the last election alongside Cox.
"I hope we learn lessons from this," he added.
Cox, a former charity worker who was only elected to parliament last year, was best known for her campaigning in favour of refugee rights and for Britain staying in the European Union.
She grew up in the area and made an impassioned maiden speech in parliament about the ethnic diversity of her local community, which saw an influx of migrants from Ireland and the Indian subcontinent when it was a hub for the English textile industry.
"She absolutely worked across the diverse communities here," said Mark Umpleby, a priest in nearby Batley and a friend of the late politician.
As he was speaking, a stream of Christian and Muslim well-wishers filed into church to sign a book of condolences, ahead of a vigil planned for later on Friday.
"I spent two hours this morning walking around the market, shops and cafes chatting and there's just shock, a numbness," he told AFP.
"She had a real vibrancy. People talk about her being a Yorkshire lass and she certainly was," he added.
- Town hall vigil -
Umpleby later joined local Muslim leaders in addressing a vigil outside Batley Town Hall, attended by around 200 people.
"She was willing to unify the community, showing a lot of respect to our religion -- Islam," said Zahid Valimulla, 49.
"I was devastated. It took me a lot of courage to come out today. My mother put it very nicely. Within a split second she said: 'Jo is another Princess Diana'."
Sitting outside a local sports and social club, Stephen Lees said of the attack: "It's atrocious. It's not something you expect around here.
"It's not sunk in properly yet."
A mile across the village, home to around 16,000 residents, there was another police cordon.
It was here that the sole suspect, 52-year-old Mair, lived before being taken into police custody.
"I lived near him when I was a child," said Mary, 54.
"He was a lovely lad. Tom did everybody's gardens, old people who couldn't afford it.
"The lady who rang me to tell me there had been a shooting rang back and said, 'oh, I can't believe it, it's Tom'. I said, 'you must be joking'."
AFP
