UPDATED: Journalist shot dead in ‘terrorist incident’ in Londonderry – police
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A 29-year-old journalist has been shot dead as she covered riots in Londonderry, with police treating it as a “terrorist incident”.
Police have appealed for calm after petrol bombs were also thrown during late-night disturbances in the Creggan area of the city.
The sealed off area where 29 year old journalist Lyra McKee was killed, at Creggan housing estate, Derry, Northern Ireland, Britain.
Dissident republicans are being blamed for killing 29-year-old Lyra McKee during rioting after police searches in Derry’s Creggan area on Thursday night.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said the New IRA “are likely to be the ones behind this” and detectives have started a murder inquiry.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the murder was “shocking and senseless”.
The SKY News report adds “Assistant chief constable Mark Hamilton from the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: “Sadly I can confirm that following shots being fired tonight in Creggan, a 29-year-old woman has been killed.”
A murder investigation has been launched.”
RTÉ reports “A number of shots were fired towards PSNI officers during disturbances in Derry last night.
The trouble followed police searches in the Creggan area of the city.
A number of vehicles were hijacked and set on fire before shots were fired at around half past eleven.
According to mobile phone footage obtained by RTE News, there were at least two gunshots.
The footage also shows two masked men appearing to pick up empty bullet casings.
A male voice can be heard saying “they’ve shot somebody.”
It’s understood a 29 year woman was taken to hospital by police.
In a statement a short time later, PSNI assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton confirmed that the woman had died and said it was being treated as a terrorist incident.”
The Guardian reports “A local journalist at the scene, Leona O’Neill, wrote on Twitter that after the woman was hit and fell beside a police Land Rover, officers rushed her to hospital, where the woman died. She said the rioting was in response to a house search that a large number of officers conducted in the area.
The unrest comes ahead of the Easter weekend where republicans mark the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising and a time when dissidents are traditionally active.
The Sinn Fein deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, said the killing in Derry was a “senseless loss of life”. She said: “I am shocked and saddened at the tragic news that a young woman has been shot dead by so-called dissidents in the Creggan estate tonight.
“The murder of this young woman is a human tragedy for her family, but it is also an attack on all the people of this community, an attack on our peace process and an attack on the Good Friday Agreement. I unreservedly condemn those responsible for killing this young woman.”
This is a developing story Via Sky / RTE / The Guardian
