Omagh shooting: New IRA 'primary focus' in officer attack investigation

23 Feb 2023

Detective Chief Inspector John CaldwellImage source, Pacemaker

Image caption,

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell

An attempted murder investigation has been launched after an off-duty police officer was shot at a sports complex in Omagh, County Tyrone, on Wednesday.

Det Ch Insp John Caldwell was hit multiple times by two gunmen after coaching young people at football.

Police said he was putting balls in the boot of his car at around 20.00 GMT, accompanied by his son.

He remains in a critical but stable condition at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said Det Ch Insp Caldwell ran a short distance after he was hit at the Killyclogher Road complex before falling and being shot again. It is understood he was shot four times.

Children, parents and coaches were at the scene at the time.

The "primary focus" of the police investigation is on violent dissident republicans, ACC McEwan said.

"There is a primary focus as well on the New IRA," he added.

"The investigation is at an early stage. We are keeping an open mind."

Police believe the gunmen made off in a small, dark car, which was found burnt out at Racolpa Road, outside Omagh.

They have since closed several roads in the Omagh vicinity.

Image caption,

Searches are underway at the Omagh sports complex where the shooting took place

'Respected figure'

ACC McEwan described his injured colleague as a "respected figure" - both in his role as as a senior investigating officer, where he supports victims' families and works to bring perpetrators to justice "and as an active member of the community".

He paid tribute to "a brave member of the public who ran towards John during the attack and administered first aid".

"I would also like to thank our partners in the Ambulance Service. If it hadn't have been for their quick action in getting John to hospital, we might have been looking at something very different this morning," he said.

Political leaders including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar condemned the shooting.

Northern Ireland party leaders Michelle O'Neill, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Naomi Long, Doug Beattie and Colum Eastwood issued a joint statement calling it a reprehensible attack by "the enemies of our peace".

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Simon Byrne said he was "shocked and saddened".

'Sickened to the stomach'

Some pupils from Omagh High School were at the sports complex at the time of the shooting.

Principal Christos Gaitatzis said that he was "sickened to the stomach" by the news.

He said the children had been "numb" on Wednesday night and it was very hard for them to comprehend what had happened.

"We know that some will manifest the shock in completely different ways," he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

Alliance leader and former justice minister Ms Long described the shooting as "child abuse" of the young people who witnessed it.

She added: "I know people who serve in the police. I know their families and I know how impactful what happened last night has been on each of them - I just say thank you to them for having the courage to put on a uniform and go out and serve the community the way they do."

Ulster Unionist assembly member for the area Tom Elliott said it was a difficult time for the entire community, and offered his support to the officer and his family.

DUP assembly member Thomas Buchanan told Good Morning Ulster Det Ch Insp Caldwell was highly respected and well liked by all of the community in Omagh.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme the shooting was "absolutely diabolical".

"Whatever the motive, if it were dissident republicanism… it is utterly unacceptable to all of us, to all political persuasions or none," she said.

It is no surprise to learn the chief suspects in the attack are the New IRA.

After years on the backfoot the organisation re-emerged with a bomb attack on a police patrol in Strabane last November.

The attack on John Caldwell is the most serious incident involving the targeting of an officer for many years.

You probably need to go back to 2011 and the murder of Ronan Kerr for anything comparable.

Last night will be seen not only as an attack on a police officer but an officer who has been directly involved in investigating dissident republicans.

About a year ago, on the advice of MI5, the security threat level was downgraded for the first time in over a decade.

In that context, the shock being felt within the PSNI today will likely be magnified.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland condemned what it called an "appalling and barbaric act of violence on an off-duty officer".

Chairman Liam Kelly said the shooting was a "stark reminder" policing was a dangerous job in Northern Ireland.

It was "bereft of any sort of common decency and humanity," he told The Nolan Show.

Church leaders too spoke out against it, the Catholic and Church of Ireland archbishops of Armagh issuing a joint statement of condemnation.

The president of the Methodist Church in Ireland called it "an appalling act of evil".

An Garda Síochána (Irish police) said it had intensified patrolling in border counties.

The last gun attack on a PSNI officer was in January 2017. The PSNI officer was hit by an automatic gunfire at a petrol station in north Belfast.

The officer was hit at least twice in his right arm, and it is thought a bulletproof vest may have saved his life.

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