The prime suspect in the hunt for a gunman who murdered a traffic officer on Boxing Day has been arrested by armed police.
Mr Nathan Coleman was detained by Northumbria police at a hotel in Gateshead after a tip-off from a member of the public.
He was taken to a local police station while officers from West Yorkshire, who want to question him about the murder of Pc Ian Broadhurst in Leeds, travelled north.
Mr Coleman (37) a nightclub doorman, was named on Monday as the main suspect for the murder of Pc Broadhurst and the attempted murder of two colleagues. West Yorkshire police announced the arrest shortly before 6 a.m. today.
Pc Broadhurst (34) a married man from Cookridge, Leeds, died after he was shot by a man who had been sitting in the back of his police car in Leeds. His colleague, Pc Roper (45) was shot twice by the same man and is still recovering in hospital.
Pc James Banks (26) was also shot at but the round ricocheted off his radio belt and baton buckle. The shootings happened after Pc Broadhurst and Pc Roper approached a stolen BMW. They put the driver in the back of their patrol car and Pc Roper was about to handcuff him when he produced the gun.
Chief Superintendent Bob Pattison, of Northumbria Police, said the suspect put up no resistance when police arrived at the Royal Hotel in the Dunston area of Gateshead this morning.
He said: "He was compliant when challenged by the armed police. The premises he was in has been sealed off pending full forensic examination later today."
PA