Three men have been arrested after an off-duty policeman was gunned down in front of youngsters at a sports club - including his son. Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, a senior officer in Northern Ireland, was shot multiple times yesterday evening (February 22).
He ran a short distance and fell to the ground at the Youth Sports Centre in Omagh, where the attackers continued to fire at him as children ran in terror to get to safety, police have said. Chief Constable Simon Byrne, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has today confirmed three arrests as part of an attempted murder investigation.
Speaking at a press conference, he said: "This morning we have arrested three men aged 38, 45, and 47 in Omagh and Coalisland in connection with John’s attempted murder. They’re currently being questioned by detectives at Musgrave serious crime suite.”
DCI Caldwell, who had been coaching youths while off duty before being gunned down, remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. Police earlier confirmed that 'dissident republicans' were a key focus for the investigation, in particular the New IRA group.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan described his colleague as a 'highly respected senior investigating officer'. He said that around 8pm, the policeman had been putting footballs into the boot of his car with his young son, when two gunmen approached and both fired multiple shots.
“John has ran a short distance and he’s fallen to the ground, and as he’s on the ground the gunmen have continued to fire at him,” he told BBC Radio Ulster. “That shows the absolute callous nature of this attack in a crowded space where there are children and parents in the vicinity, and we saw many of those young people and children running in sheer terror to get to safety.
“At least two other vehicles have been struck, and again this highlights the callous and reckless nature of this attack.” Mr McEwan said police believe the gunmen made off in a small dark car which was later found burned out just outside Omagh.
“I would appeal for anyone with any information about those involved, about the vehicle, or anything else you think may be of use to the inquiry, no matter how small, please come forward to police,” he said. DCI Caldwell has led a number of major investigations, including taking a leading role in the murder probe following the killing of Natalie McNally in Lurgan in December.
Irish police are working closely in co-operation with their counterparts in the PSNI and have intensified patrols amid suspicions the gunmen may have fled across the border. The New IRA has previously been blamed for the killing of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry/Londonderry in 2019, and the attempted murder of two police officers in a bomb attack last November in Strabane, Co Tyrone.
Christos Gaitatzis, the principal of Omagh High School whose students were at the scene of the shooting, told BBC Radio Ulster: “I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the youngsters this morning, waking up in the aftershock of what they experienced last night. I feel that those people affected here last night were my children, were my family.
“We really need to get together as a community in order to make sure that these types of instances, that contain violence in the most heinous way I can describe, have to be pushed away from our community. [We have to] make sure that those individuals are caught and isolated out of our community to make sure that Omagh remains the town that it always has been - a town that is together, is coming together at all times, especially during difficult circumstances like this.”
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