Grinning crossbow maniac Jason King jailed for shooting police officer

A thug who stabbed his neighbour in the stomach "grinned" before he shot a police officer with a crossbow, a court heard as he was jailed for nine years.

Unarmed police officers rushed to a quiet UK village after Jason King, 55, went on a horror rampage and knifed Alistair Mahwuto, 63, in a shocking altercation over a "long-standing" car row. Chilling doorbell footage showed King screaming "my dogs going to kill you in a minute" and "kill" after violently knifing the man. Crews who arrived to treat the stab victim were shot at by King with a crossbow before he targeted officers with the weapon from an upstairs window.

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The horror attack started when King stabbed his neighbour, with a "small knife", as he got out of a car, on May 10, 2024, and a chilling 999 call by the victim's partner captured the terrifying ordeal. The woman, talking to the call handler, said: "He's by my front door but we can't go out because he's got a knife... he says he's coming for me."

King then shot at cops from his window, as Prosecutor Graham Smith told Aylesbury Crown Court: "(An officer) looked around, he saw the defendant was now exiting the address, he noticed he was now crouching down as he ran and the defendant was grinning."

King's shocking attack continued, in Downley, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire as he chased an unarmed policeman, despite armed cops arriving the the scene by that point. He fired a bolt that struck PC Curtis Foster in the leg during the shocking rampage, resulting in a two to three-centimetre wound near to an artery.

A body-worn police video showed a the male officer shouting "he f****** shot me". Foster later said: "When we got to the hospital, the doctor had a fell of it and said that I was really lucky it didn't strike an artery. It was a couple of centimetres away from hitting an artery in the back of my leg." Smith said it was "great fortune" the officer who was shot had not suffered greater injuries and that King had appeared to be "hunting down" and "stalking" the police.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Nick Hind, of Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit said: "When confronted by armed officers, King, rather than putting the weapon down, made moves to follow retreating officers from the park, resulting in a split-second decision from one of our officers to fire a single shot to incapacitate King and bring the threat to a conclusion."

The 55-year-old was eventually shot in the abdomen by one of the armed cops, before being taken to hospital with potentially life-changing injuries. King was discharged 10 days later and was arrested and thrown into police custody after the shocking attack.

In a statement read to court, Mr Mahwuto, 63, who suffered a two-centimetre wound as a result of the stabbing, said the incident had "affected me more than I would have ever imagined" and that he was now debating moving away from the area where he had lived for 30 years. He added: “The doctor said to me that if it had been a few centimetres higher, it could have been fatal”.

Detective Inspector Hind added: "The impact this incident had in the local community cannot be underestimated. King was an extremely dangerous man, who posed a significant threat to police, other emergency services and members of the community. He had already stabbed a neighbour before shooting at our officers, and I believe the actions of all the officers responding to this incident prevented the potential of mass casualty event."

The crossbow attacker appeared in court today over charges of unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray after the shooting in May last year. The attacker was sentenced for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a bladed article at the same hearing. He pleaded guilty to these offences in September, 2024.

On Wednesday, the court heard that on the day before the shooting, King said his windows had been broken by a neighbour and had called police. Sentencing King, Judge Jonathan Cooper said he had been partly motivated by "revenge" and a "sense of grievance" towards his neighbours and police who he believed had not handled the incident regarding his window appropriately.

Judge Cooper said: "I note that you purchased the crossbow, I don’t accept it was for recreational purposes. I consider that this was an attempt by you to arm yourself in the event of need." The judge said that King's actions, including chasing officers and continuing to shoot at them, were evidence of him "attempting to settle a score with police".

In mitigation, Mark Kimsey, defending, said King accepted the incident was "very frightening" for those involved, and that he had been suffering from a "worsening mental condition". Kimsey said it was "not illegal" to possess the crossbow and that "an adult is entitled to own an item without a licence". He said: "The item is one that can be freely purchased by anybody and cost less than £20 and was described as a ‘pistol’ crossbow."

King was given an extended sentence of 12 years, consisting of nine years' imprisonment and a further three years on licence. Hind, on today's sentencing, said: "Jason King will now serve a substantial prison sentence as a result of his violent actions on 10 May 2024. The community and residents of Downley are much safer for it. I would like to thank everybody in the community for their support and understanding while we investigated this horrific incident."

Ten police officers were later presented with the Thames Valley Police Federation 2025 Bravery Awards for their brave work at the horrifying scene. The chair of the local police federation, Aileen O'Connor, praised these officers and said they prevented members of the public from being killed or injured.

PC Foster recalled the horror moment and said: "He's got the crossbow and he's pointing it, and he's running directly towards me. In that moment I completely froze. He had the biggest grin on his face and he was running towards me."

Shocking bodycam footage showed the moment an armed officer and King were face-to-face across a children's playground when the attacker refused to put his crossbow down. The armed cop who shot King said: "Despite all my demands, despite hoping he was going to put the crossbow down, he refused. So his actions led to him being shot."

The cop said he felt something hit the back of his leg and saw blood running down from him when he looked behind. Foster later said: "I knew something had impacted me, but my adrenaline was so high that the pain wasn't really there. I first realised I was bleeding quite a lot when I could feel it running down my leg, and then I touched my leg with above my trousers, and my whole hand was red where it'd gone through my trousers already."

PC Parker-Graham evacuated families, including children, from a park as the crossbow shooter chased PC Foster into there. Another officer on the scene, PC Mark Thompson, let his cop dog, PD Merlyn, chase after King and the attacker fired another bolt at them both but missed. King was found hiding behind a tree in the park by two officers who then shot him.

Sgt Ben Sarl found PC Foster and called ambulance services to treat the wounded cop while other officers provided fist aid to the stabbed neighbour. Foster was rushed to hospital but was discharged later that same day.