Belfast – An off-duty police officer was shot and injured late on Wednesday in Northern Ireland, police said, in an attack slammed by politicians as “outrageous and shameful.”
Police in Northern Ireland are the target of sporadic attacks that were once common in the region, which was plagued by decades of sectarian violence before the signing of 1998 peace accords.
The shooting took place in the town of Omagh in County Tyrone.
“One man, a serving police officer, has been taken to hospital for treatment after being injured in a shooting incident at a sports complex just before 8:00pm (20:00GMT) this evening,” the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.
Northern Ireland first minister designate and the deputy leader of the pro-Ireland party Sinn Fein Michelle O’Neill called the attack “outrageous and shameful”.
Detectives from our Major Investigation Team have launched an attempted murder investigation following an attack on a police officer in Omagh on Wednesday evening, 22nd February. pic.twitter.com/rdGYGY4BXS
— Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) February 23, 2023
“My immediate thoughts are with the officer and his family. I unreservedly condemn this reprehensible attempt to murder a police officer,” she added.
“Terrible news from Omagh tonight. Our heart goes out to the family of this courageous police officer and to his colleagues,” pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson said.
“We condemn outright the cowards responsible for this. These terrorists have nothing to offer and they must be brought to justice. We stand with the PSNI,” he added.
In April 2021, a bomb was left near a police officer’s car outside her home in Northern Ireland in what police said was an attempt to kill her.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Unsplash
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