New IRA admits shooting Northern Ireland police officer
The New IRA has admitted it shot Det Ch Insp John Caldwell in Omagh on Wednesday.The police's main line of inquiry was that the dissident republican group, the New IRA, was behind the attack.
Two gunmen shot the 48-year-old several times in front of his young son at a sports complex. Mr Caldwell remains critically ill in hospital.Dissident republicans oppose the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace deal and continue to use violence to attempt to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.
The New IRA admission was not unexpected, given what the police had already stated, but the manner in which they did it was unusual.Also, it did so while suspects are in police custody.It also appears to want to use the statement to attempt to heighten security concerns among officers. The attack marks an escalation in New IRA activity - something the Police Service of Northern Ireland had been concerned about."We are currently reviewing its contents as part of the overall investigation," he said.
"On Friday we confirmed that we were treating the attempted murder of DCI John Caldwell as terrorist-related and our primary line of enquiry was the New IRA."
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