A POLICE officer who was shot dead trying to stop a crazed gunman has been praised by the family of the man he was protecting.

Pc Ian Dibell, 41, was killed when he tried to prevent Peter Reeve chasing a neighbour down a street in Clacton.

The neighbour, 48-year-old Trevor Marshall, is recovering after being shot in the leg but Pc Dibell, who was off-duty at the time, died at the scene.

Last night, Mr Marshall’s 22-year-old step-son Liam Hampton thanked the officer and praised him for saving his step-father’s life.

“What that policeman did was amazing. He was off-duty but he still tried to stop what was happening,” he said.

“There could easily have been two deaths but because of what he did my step-dad’s still alive. I can’t thank him enough and I offer my deepest sympathy to his family.”

The drama unfolded on Monday when armed police were called to Redbridge Road at 3.40pm.

A full-scale manhunt for Reeve, 64, ensued before he was found dead with head wounds and a gun at All Saints’ graveyard in Writtle near Chelmsford, yesterday morning.

In a statement, Pc Dibell’s family, a number of whom are police officers, paid tribute to their selfless “hero”.

They said: “We are immensely proud of Ian and the courage he showed. We take some comfort from his bravery. Policing was in his blood and Ian went selflessly to the aid of people in desperate need without fear or thought for his own safety. It was who he was – a hero.

“He has paid for the act in the most devastating way. He will be deeply missed and no words can describe the loss. He was very much loved by his family.”

According to neighbours, Reeve is thought to have become suspicious and paranoid about the couple living in the flat downstairs, claiming they were printing money.

However, it is not known what prompted such a volatile and deadly set of events, with some neighbours claiming it may have been over a parking dispute.

Police said much of the murder investigation will focus on the motive behind the tragic shooting.

Essex Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle said: “It is an extreme set of circumstances that a man opens fire with a gun clearly firing at more than one person and shooting an off-duty constable dead.

“There must have been some sort of catalyst that prompted the scale of a tragedy of this kind.” Reeve, who was largely unknown to the police, did not carry a firearms licence and his car was found abandoned near the scene of the crime. It is not known how he got to Chelmsford.

He is understood to have family members in Writtle, who police officers were visiting yesterday, and had a connection with the graveyard where he was found.