High Wycombe man who shot police officer with crossbow after stabbing neighbour jailed
Jason King, 55, attacked his neighbour in May 2024, before turning a weapon on a police officer who responded to the incident
Last updated 20th Aug 2025
A man who stabbed a member of the public and later shot a police officer with a crossbow in High Wycombe has been jailed.
Jason King, 55, of School Close, High Wycombe, was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court today (20 August) to a total of nine years with a further three years on licence.
He was charged with grievous bodily harm with intent, grievous bodily harm, affray, possession of an offensive weapon (a crossbow), and possession of a bladed article in a public place (a knife).
King was convicted of the offences on 20 September 2024.
Two other charges — criminal damage and cultivation of cannabis — will lie on file.
The offences relate to an incident on 10 May 2024, around 6pm, when King became involved in an altercation with a neighbour on School Close in the Downley area of High Wycombe.
During the incident, King stabbed the victim, a man in his sixties, in the stomach, then left the scene.
When Thames Valley Police officers responded, King began shooting at them with a crossbow from a window of his address.
Armed officers were then called to the scene, and while they were on their way, King exited the property with the crossbow, prompting unarmed officers to withdraw.
King then chased officers and fired a crossbow bolt at PC Curtis Foster, striking him in the leg and causing a significant injury.
PC Foster has since made a full recovery.
A police dog handler and police dog, PD Merlyn, later confronted King, who threatened them with the crossbow.
Neither the handler nor the dog were injured.
King fled to a local park while continuing to pose a significant threat. Armed officers arrived and confronted him. After being ordered to drop the crossbow, King began moving toward the exit of the park — the same direction PC Foster had run to escape.
An armed officer discharged one round, striking King in the abdomen and ending the immediate threat. He received first aid at the scene and was taken to hospital under police supervision.
King sustained potentially life-changing injuries and was discharged ten days later, when he was arrested and taken into police custody.
He was charged on 22 May 2024.
The original stabbing victim was treated in hospital and discharged the same day.
Detective Inspector Nick Hind, Senior Investigating Officer from Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit, said: “The courage of our officers in dealing with this incident was second to none.
“On what was a warm spring evening, King undertook some extreme violence, stabbing a neighbour before arming himself with a crossbow and going back outside, where he posed a considerable threat to the local community.
“Our unarmed officers initially confronted King, but withdrew when they realised he had a crossbow on him.
“King then chased our officers, firing a crossbow bolt at PC Foster, striking him in the leg causing a significant injury.
“He continued to pose a threat, running into a park, where moments earlier, police had cleared children away from the danger. King also threatened our police dog and handler with the crossbow, but thankfully, neither dog nor handler were injured.
“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 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.
“Following the police shooting of King, a mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
“Their investigation concluded in November, in which they praised the courage of our officers at bringing the incident to a conclusion with no other member of the public injured.
“I would like to pay tribute to all of the officers who responded to this dangerous incident, but in particular, PC Foster, his colleague PC Cameron Parker-Graham, the two armed response officers, and our dog handler.
“I would also like to recognise the call handler in contact management, Vicky Price, who calmly dealt with the initial 999 call into the police, despite her being very new in post.
“Everybody involved in this incident have been commended by the IOPC, and it goes without saying, that I am immensely proud of all of those who responded.
“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.”