Newly-wed police officer, 28, killed on duty at suspected burglary

Ten people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after PC Andrew Harper (28) died following a “serious incident” at around 11.30pm last night (Thursday) near the A4 Bath Road, between Reading and Newbury, at the village of Sulhamstead.
Chief Constable John Campbell of Thames Valley Police has stated in a press conference that as it was a live investigation, only limited details could be provided at this stage. Adding: “Tragically Andrew was attending a reported burglary along with a crew mate and was killed at the scene whilst performing his duties.”
It has been stated that PC Andrew Harper was at the scene with a fellow officer and was out of his police car when the incident occurred. Though a postmortem examination is taking place to establish the cause of death, British media have reported that the young officer had been struck by a car and dragged along by a vehicle before he died.
Ten people including a 13-year-old boy were detained within about an hour of the incident and have been arrested on suspicion of murder and a murder investigation has been launched.
Officers continue to work “hard and diligently to find out what happened”. Forensic investigators have spent today (Friday) gathering items that lay on the road and taking photographs. And this afternoon, a police van blocked off access to a nearby caravan site as officers conducted door-to-door enquiries.
Authorities have stated that PC Harper was married four weeks ago and he was reportedly due to go on honeymoon next week.
Mr Harper joined as a special constable in 2010 before becoming a police officer a year later, serving in the Roads Policing Proactive Unit based at Abingdon police station.
PC Harper becomes the the first policeman to be killed on duty since PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death during the Westminster terror attack in 2017.