A woman in her 40s has died after a shooting at a Kent pub, police have said.

She was shot at the Three Horseshoes in the village of Knockholt on Valentine’s Day evening, Kent police said.

Officers were searching for the perpetrator and later found a vehicle containing a gun on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which crosses the River Thames at nearby Dartford. The suspect was a man who knew the victim, police said.

The suspect may have entered the water at the Dartford Crossing, police said, after call handlers received reports of a man on the wrong side of the barrier.

The senior investigating officer, DCI David Higham, said they are “not ruling out the possibility that he may have entered the water”, and that the force is “currently only looking for one suspect and do not believe there to be an ongoing risk to the public”.

Officers were called to the pub near Sevenoaks just after 7pm on Friday. The force said in a statement: “Officers attended the scene along with South East Coast ambulance service where a woman in her 40s had suffered injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.

“She was declared deceased at the scene and a murder investigation is under way. Her next of kin has been informed.

“As part of inquiries, officers attended the Dartford Crossing where a vehicle linked to the incident was recovered, alongside a firearm. Inquiries are ongoing to identify and locate all persons potentially involved.”

Ray Picot, a local parish councillor, told Kent Online he had heard “a couple of loud bangs” at 7pm. “It’s a shock. We’ve never had anything like this,” he said. “It’s a very busy pub, a great pub. It never has any trouble and is very well managed.

“I understand those inside the pub were ushered back to their houses by police as they were all in terrible shock. It sounded awful.”

Fellow parish councillor Steve Maines told the BBC: “We were sitting having our Valentine’s Day meal when all of a sudden we heard this huge commotion outside in the car park. We were told someone had been shot so we had to leave.”

Dorothy Wong, who lives in the village, said: “I heard around three to four bangs outside and loud shouting from a woman’s voice.”

It is understood neither the suspect or victim were from Kent but had local connections to the area.