Police have confirmed a gun found during a massive search operation in Derry last week was the weapon used to kill Lyra McKee.
A forensic examination of the unusual .22 calibre pistol has linked it to the journalist’s killing during disorder in the city in April of last year.
After trawling through hours of footage from the riot that lead to the 29-year-old’s death, detectives spotted that the gunman appeared to have fired two shots before the gun jammed. He then wrestled with the pistol to clear the blockage before firing two more shots.
Live bullets ejected from the gun as the gunman struggled to clear the blockage were retrieved and removed from the scene before police could get them. Casings from the rounds fired, however, were recovered by police and are understood to have become a key element of the investigation.
One source says because the gunman struggled to clear the gun after it jammed they may have touched internal mechanisms that would not normally be touched during regular firing. This is also playing a role in the gun’s examination with the weapon dismantled and all its parts scoured for clues.
The examination is ongoing, according to sources familiar with the investigation, and may yet provide further evidence as to who was behind the shooting. The gun used was a Hammerli X-Esse, a German made target pistol that would be used in competition.
It is thought the fatal shot was the third or fourth one fired.
Confirming the link between Lyra’s death and the recovery of the gun, Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy from Serious Crime Branch said “examinations of the gun recovered in Ballymagroarty last weekend have now confirmed that this is the gun that killed Lyra McKee”.
He added: “That collective effort has never been simply directed towards the person who pulled the trigger. I am as clear today as I have ever been that the bringing of that gun onto the streets involved a number of senior figures in the New IRA.
"Today’s confirmation is a significant step forward and opens up a new avenue of investigation for my team. We will be relentless in pursuing opportunities to bring to justice every person who was involved in the chain of events that led to the gunman indiscriminately firing four shots.
“Those shots were fired intentionally towards police Landrovers, placing many officers at significant risk of death or serious injury. The presence of bystanders like Lyra, who were watching the unfolding events, was an inconvenience to the terrorists but the gunman clearly placed no importance on that. Any reasonable assessment must be that for the New IRA, the community were, and continue to be, expendable collateral damage.”
DS Murphy said Lyra’s death “was an inevitable and entirely predictable result of terrorist violence”.
He added: “The police investigation also extends to the disappearance of the weapon after it was fired. Somebody was able to transport this gun and its ammunition from Creggan to Ballymagroarty and hide them in a field, within 250 yards of local housing. This placed other members of the public at further considerable risk. The disregard shown by the New IRA is staggering but completely unsurprising. They continue to put their own agenda above the rights of local communities to live in peace.”
Speaking about the examination of the gun, Detective Superintendent Murphy added: “A very detailed forensic examination of the gun, ammunition and the plastic bags in which they were wrapped is currently ongoing. The gun jammed as the gunman fired and I know from the video footage that the gunman tried several times to eject the jammed rounds.
“For that reason, I have asked scientists to extend their forensic examination beyond the outside of the gun and forensically examine the inside mechanisms of it, to establish whether the gunman, in his haste to clear the blockage, may have left forensic traces inside the gun. We are using the most advanced DNA technology available and we will exhaust every opportunity to recover forensic evidence.
“That forensic work will take some considerable time to complete, particularly because of the intricate examination of the internal mechanisms.”
Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy said: “The last 15 months we’ve been seeking to piece together the movements of each and every individual that I know is linked to the New IRA in that area. And we’ve made significant progress in that.
