Liverpool shooting: First pictures of the gunman who opened fire on families outside Showcase cinema after holding up an off licence while wearing flip flops

This is the gunman arrested over the terrifying armed rampage at a Liverpool cinema which left families outside running for their lives.

Leslie Garrett, 49, had been 'going through a tough time' after splitting up with his girlfriend, they said, a period during which he told friends he was living in his car for several weeks.

Mr Garrett was arrested hours later on firearms offences by officers armed with Tasers at the nearby bungalow where he is understood to have been staying in his mother's caravan.

Police described the suspect as 'aggressive'.

He is this evening in custody being questioned by detectives after being held on suspicion of possession of a Section 1 firearm with intent to endanger life and robbery.

Leslie Garrett, 49, has been arrested after a gunman opened fire outside the Showcase cinema in Liverpool 

In addition to searching the bungalow, police were today stationed outside the terraced house he shared with partner until they split up last year.

It is just a ten minute walk from both the Sangha Newsagents in the Norris Green area of Liverpool where shots were first fired at 8.30pm on Wednesday and the Showcase Cinema where a man armed with a gun threatened staff about 20 minutes later.

Neighbours of the housing association property where Garrett was arrested just after 4.45am today said they were awoken by the sound of shouting and looked outside to see armed police in the street.

'There were loads of police vans and armed officers clustered around the bungalow,' said one.

'I could hear bawling and shouting. It looked like they were struggling to get handcuffs on him.

'It went on for ages. There was more than one police officer trying to subdue him.

'It was such a shock, it's normally a fairly quiet area.'

Today police forensics teams were seen coming and going from the property, which was cordoned off. A drawing of a snowman was visible in the front window.

Later officers using a low loader took away a grey Ford Focus hatchback which had been parked outside the bungalow.

A similar-looking vehicle featured on Mr Garrett's Facebook page last year, captioned: 'Working and living in my car for nearly 4 weeks.'

In a post on the same day – May 7 – he wrote that he was currently 'in a sh***y place'.

A neighbour said: 'Les works for a security firm, and the Showcase Cinema is one of the sites where he's worked.

'He's been going through a tough time recently after splitting up with his girlfriend.

'But no-one expected him to be arrested over something like this.'

Neither Merseyside Police nor Showcase Cinemas would confirm or deny that Mr Garrett – whose name has not been officially released – had worked there.

But in a statement, the chain said: 'There was an incident at our cinema and surrounding area in Liverpool last night.

'As always, the safety and welfare of our staff and customers was our number one priority and we can confirm no one was injured.

'We would like to thank our team members and the local police for their swift responses and we are continuing to help the police with their investigation.'