A HAZLEMERE man saw his best friend fatally shot during an armed robbery in a Texas bar.

James Charlton, 26, watched in horror as a gunman opened fire at a bar in Amarillo. It is thought a shot ricocheted off a table, striking dad Tom Reeve, 28, in the chest.

Maidenhead resident Mr Reeve, who lived in High Wycombe for two years until about 2007, was crouching on the floor with around 20 others.

American media reports that suspected gunman Ray Carlos Cisneros shot a man in the hand, sexually assaulted a woman and stole cash from customers and the register.

The 25-year-old was later arrested and is charged with capital murder by terroristic threat, reports say. Further charges may follow.

The two pals were on a coast-to-coast road trip with friend Lara Haim, 28, from Reading, when the shooting happened on the evening of November 5.

They are now home. Mr Charlton declined to comment.

This week Mr Reeve’s grieving mother Margaret said: “For them they have the horror of the actual event.

“They don't want to relive that. For me I don’t have a memory of that day. For them it is all too real.”

Mrs Reeve, 58, said: “If you were ever going to go on a long journey with someone you couldn't go with someone better than Tom as he was always so upbeat.

“He didn't worry about tomorrow- it was the here and now he was concerned about.”

Mr Reeve, a shop manager, would have been 29 last Saturday.

The three friends were travelling from San Francisco to Florida to visit Mr Reeve’s father, Robert, in time for his birthday.

He is dad to Tabitha, aged nine months.

One card of sympathy given to Mr Reeve’s family reads: “Tom was a true friend and a great person with a heart of gold.

“You could never be unhappy around Tom and if you were in a bad mood he would always find a way to pull you out of it and keep a smile on your face for the rest of the day.”