Revealed: Man shot useless by police had constructed his personal gun, was jailed for firearms possession and boasted on-line about making lethal weapons

This is the first photograph of a man shot dead by police after running towards them with a knife outside a busy rail station.

David Joyce, 38, had only been out of prison a matter of months, having been jailed for possession of firearms and making his own gun three years ago, when he was fatally shot outside Milton Keynes station, MailOnline has learned.

In photographs posted on his Facebook page he is seen taking aim with a rifle and bow and arrow in a woodland.

He also posted a snap of a Taser he had crafted himself from a ‘200,000 voltage ignition coil’ and boasted of making a ‘burning laser’ which would cut through plastic and ‘blind you instantly’.

Mr Joyce died of a single gunshot wound to his abdomen after an armed officer fired at him outside Milton Keynes Central Rail station in Buckinghamshire on Tuesday.

Police had received reports that he was outside the station area with a gun. However, it transpired he was carrying a knife and no other weapon was found at the scene.

MailOnline can reveal that cannabis-smoking Mr Joyce had become agitated and paranoid just hours before he was gunned down telling a neighbour ‘the police are out to get me’.

The neighbour said: ‘He was a quiet lad, didn’t say much but I think he had some mental health issues.

‘On the day he was shot, he came to my gate and started talking to me.

‘He was very paranoid and said ‘Can’t you see them? The cameras…they’re following me everywhere. The police are out to get me.’

‘It was a bizarre conversation but a few hours later he was shot dead by armed police.

‘He had a knife apparently and ran at them but I wonder if they could have handled it differently because he was clearly unwell.

‘He admitted that he’d been sentenced to five years in jail and told me he was some sort of engineer who built his own gun.

‘He had a fascination with firearms and weapons but I remember he told me he had made a big mistake making the gun saying “I did something very silly”.

‘The fact he’d been inside and his mental health issues meant he didn’t have a job. I just used to see him going from his flat to the shop.’

Another neighbour added: ‘He’d only been out of prison a few months.

‘I used to see him smoking weed outside the block. The smell would drift up to my flat. He kept to himself and didn’t have much family in the area.’

Mr Joyce, originally from Galway in Ireland, lived with his partner in a ground floor flat in the Hodge Lea area of Milton Keynes.

The couple were engaged in 2013 but there was no answer at the property today.

In a chilling premonition outlining his fate, Mr Joyce wrote on Facebook in 2016: ‘Keep having the same kind of mad dreams over and over, getting shot at, having gun fights, being attacked by creepy weirdos and being in jail. 

‘Not to mention getting stabbed and oh yes, my favourite, the poltergeist I always dream of being locked in a house with. Telling you I do wake up full of adrenaline expecting something or someone to be there. This is every night.’

He was jailed in 2022 after being charged with two counts of possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of an offensive weapon and one count of possession of an article for use in connection with conversion of imitation firearms.

Following his shooting, just before 1pm on Tuesday, police revealed that Mr Joyce had ‘moved at speed towards officers’ with a knife in his hand outside the rail station’s main entrance

He was shot at close range and was treated by officers at the scene before being rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead nearly an hour later.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: ‘Our officers and those from British Transport Police were called to reports of a man carrying a firearm at the station on Elder Gate at 12.55pm this afternoon.

‘Our armed officers responded and challenged a white man who was carrying a knife outside the station. He moved at speed towards officers with the knife before a shot was fired by police.

‘Life-saving actions were immediately taken at the scene, but the man was pronounced dead at 1.44pm. We have not yet informed the man’s next of kin so has not been formally identified.

‘We understand that this incident may cause concern locally, but we would like to reassure the community that there is no wider risk to the public.

‘We have made a mandatory referral to Independent Office for Police Conduct, and they will be carrying out an independent investigation into this incident. Please do not to share footage or speculate about other details online.’

Matthew Barber, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police said the shooting had been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

He said: ‘This is of course a shocking incident there is no ongoing risk to the public.

‘Of course it is right that the IOPC review this incident, but from what I understand at this early stage I am confident that the officers should be praised for their actions to protect members of the public.

‘As a society we ask the police to put themselves in harm’s way every single day on our behalf, most of those officers are unarmed.

‘The small number of armed officers often face even greater risks and carry a still greater responsibility.

‘Whilst it is right that yesterday’s incident is independently reviewed, it is important that we also recognise exactly what we are asking of our armed police officers.

‘It is tragic that a man died in yesterday’s incident, but I am thankful to the police officers who responded bravely and acted decisively in order to protect the public. If they had not done so the outcome could have been much worse.’

The IOPC said Mr Joyce was formally identified at a post-mortem examination on Thursday morning.

The watchdog said it had already viewed a ‘substantial amount’ of CCTV and police body-worn camera footage of the incident.

Derrick Campbell, the IOPC director, said: ‘Given a man has died after being shot by police, our role is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident, including the actions and decisions taken by the police.

‘We have obtained details of some members of the public who witnessed the incident who we will be contacting.

‘However, we know there were many people near the station around the time of the shooting and we want to hear from anyone who may have seen the incident or has footage of it.’