Mummy's girl ... beautiful Maisie Copland grins for snap with her mum Julie Harrison
TRAGIC Maisie Copland was shot dead yesterday within minutes of being dropped off with her father for a custody visit.
First raging Andy Copland argued in the street with the four-year-old's mum Julie Harrison before locking both in his house.
Neighbours then heard shouts and screams.
But while they were ringing 999 Copland shot both Maisie and Julie in the head at point-blank range before turning the gun on himself.
Police forced their way into what just four weeks ago had been the family home and found a scene of horror downstairs.
Officers battled in vain to save Maisie while Copland, 56, lay dead nearby - a pistol by his side. Julie was sprawled in the hall with terrible head wounds.
She was rushed by helicopter from the house in Aldershot, Hants, to hospital in Tooting, South London, where last night she was described as "critical but stable".
Witnesses told how Julie, 40, had pulled up outside the end-of-terrace house at 10am in her red
Renault - only to face a tirade from Copland over custody arrangements.
Neighbour Rachael Bryan said: "She was just stopping for a moment so she double parked and the engine was still running. Someone was trying to drive up the street but couldn't get through. They were tooting their horn.
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"Another neighbour ran out and said Andy had locked the woman in the house.
"The police turned up and broke the door down and then there were ambulances, helicopters and even more police everywhere."
Rachael added: "I only moved in at the beginning of December and I've only seen him a couple of times - but he struck me as a very angry man.
"Another neighbour told me that he used to be all right and it was only when she left with the kid that he started behaving like that."
A family friend said: "Andy Copland was a very violent and temperamental man.
"In the past I believe he had been sentenced to about six years in jail for arson and threatening his previous wife.
"He was always a nasty piece of work - a loose cannon."
But Graham Selway, who works in a nearby tool store, said Copland "seemed like a genuinely nice guy".
He said: "Andy is in the building trade and often came in for tools. He has lived at the address for about 15 years. When I saw him he would always smile."
And workmate Scott Large agreed: "He seemed a friendly guy. I really can't believe it - this is a sort of dreary, dozy, quiet sort of place."
Bearded and bespectacled Copland had split from Julie at the end of November and she moved out of the £200,000 lilac and cream house with Maisie.
Neighbour Mandy Lemmon, 40, wept as she left flowers and a teddy at a growing shrine at the scene. She sobbed: "Julie is just a lovely woman and she had such a gorgeous little girl."
Sally Denny, 35 - whose four-year-old Noah was in the same reception class as Maisie - said: "Julie is a lovely, reliable friend and a great full-time mum.
"I am praying she pulls through but know she will be devastated to hear Maisie has died. It will be the end of the world for her.
"Maisie was a happy, funny and cheeky girl. She loved to sing songs by Katy Perry in the car on the way home from school.
"My last memory of her was seeing her perform in the school nativity. She was dressed as a star but she will always be an angel."
Julie had posted a touching snap of her and Maisie on her Friends Reunited page before the split. She had told pals she was "living with someone" and was "happily caring for my daughter!"
Copland had grown-up children from an earlier marriage. One is believed to be a community support officer with Surrey Police.
Ex-wife Christine Barr was not at her home in Farnham last night. A neighbour said: "She never spoke about her ex."
Meanwhile forensic experts were combing the house while cops were trying to establish if the gun was held legally.
Det Insp Darren Rawlings said three unarmed officers - unaware a gun had been used - had rushed to the house and "faced a very traumatic scene".
They desperately tried to resuscitate Maisie. Paramedics treated Julie before she was stretchered to the air ambulance.
DI Rawlings confirmed: "We understand the couple had been separated for just over four weeks.
"The mother is the vital witness but she is unconscious and in a serious, life-threatening condition.
"We have officers with her who will speak to her as soon as she is able to talk."
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