Senior PSNI officer shot in front of his son.

Senior PSNI officer shot in front of his son

Updated / Thursday, 23 Feb 2023 10:06

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was the senior officer on many high-profile cases

By Conor Macauley

Northern Correspondent

The senior PSNI officer shot and seriously injured in Omagh last night was accompanied by his young son at the time of the attack.

Police have named the officer as Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, who is believed to be in his late 40s.

He was shot by masked men in front of young people he had been coaching at a sports complex on the Killyclogher Road.

The injured officer remains in a critical but stable condition.

Police said they had taken the step of naming him with the agreement of his family.

Det Chief Inspector Caldwell is a senior policeman who has been involved in some high-profile investigations recently, including the death of Natalie McNally in Lurgan.

Two gunmen opened fire and hit the off-duty officer several times as he tried to get away.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said a "brave" member of the public had rushed forward to try to assist the officer as the attack was under way.

The gunmen escaped in a small black car, which was found burnt out a short time later.

Assistant Chief Constable McEwan said the primary focus of the investigation was on dissident republicans, in particular the New IRA, but added: "We are keeping an open mind. There are multiple strands to that investigation."

Police at the scene in Omagh last night

Assistant Chief Constable McEwan told BBC Radio Ulster that Det Chief Inspector Caldwell was "a highly respected senior investigating officer who'd be familiar to many".

"John is someone who dedicated himself to service, both as an SIO (senior investigative officer) in supporting victims and families in bringing others to justice and as an active member of the community, as has been described this morning.

"Last night at approximately eight o'clock at the youth sports centre in Killyclogher Road, Omagh, whilst John was putting footballs into the boot of his car, and accompanied by his young son, two gunmen approached and we believe both have 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.

"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."

Gardaí said last night they had "intensified patrolling" in border counties and were cooperating with the PSNI.

Joint statement from five party leaders

There has been widespread political condemnation of the attack, with the leaders of the five main parties at Stormont issuing a joint statement, describing the shooting as cowardly.

They said: "Our thoughts are with John and his family and we wish him a full recovery. We stand united in our outright condemnation of this attack.

"We speak for the overwhelming majority of people right across our community who are outraged and sickened by this reprehensible and callous attempted murder.

"The community of Omagh has endured profound suffering, loss, and pain in the past which has left a deep trauma, and so this act of violence has left people there rightly angered.

"There is absolutely no tolerance for such attacks by the enemies of our peace. Those responsible must be brought to justice.

"This will require the full co-operation of the public whom we call upon to assist police in this attempted murder investigation.

"Together we stand with John's family and his colleagues in the police service at this time."

It was signed by Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin), Jeffrey Donaldson (DUP), Naomi Long (Alliance), Doug Beattie (UUP) and Colum Eastwood (SDLP).

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell is a critical but stable condition (File pic)

Last night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called it a "grotesque act of attempted murder", while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "appalled by the disgraceful shooting".

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the shooting was diabolical and unacceptable.

She said: "There can be no hiding place for this. There can be no sympathy for this. There is no rhyme or reason politically speaking for a vicious act of thuggery like this."

Ms McDonald said that she hoped there would be an all-Ireland response to the attack.

"What we need is an all-Ireland effort cooperation between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI to find the motive for this act and more importantly to apprehend the perpetrators and anybody with any evidence or any information must not hesitate in bringing that forward immediately to the appropriate authorities," she said.

Ms McDonald said whatever the motive it was utterly unacceptable to everyone and there was no excuse or political rationale for it.

"I don't give tuppence if there is a supposed political rationale for this," she said.

The shooting took place at a sports complex in Omagh

In a statement this morning, the Catholic and Protestant archbishops of Armagh, Eamon Martin and John McDowell, said they were united in their "condemnation of this abhorrent attack on someone serving our community".

They added: "It is impossible to find appropriate words even to describe let alone condemn such an act of depraved violence against a police officer who, as a public servant, works for the protection and well-being of the whole community.

"Regardless of who they think they are, the individuals who planned and carried out this shooting represent a deep-seated criminal threat to the health and peace of our society and it is important that we do everything in our power to prevent such things from ever happening again."

The Chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has said last night's attack was completely deplorable.

Liam Kelly urged anyone with information to come forward to the PSNI so that the people behind the attack can be brought to justice.

He said that his thoughts are with the officer and his family following the "barbaric, cold-blooded and callous" attack.

The principal of Omagh High School, whose students were at the scene, has said that violence must be "pushed away from our community".

"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," Christos Gaitatzis told BBC Radio Ulster.

"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."

Additional reporting PA

Senior PSNI officer shot in front of his son (rte.ie)