Journalist shot dead in Northern Ireland in ‘terrorist incident’

A journalist was shot dead during riots in Northern Ireland in what police yesterday were treating as a terrorist incident following the latest upsurge in violence to shake the troubled region. “Lyra McKee was murdered during orchestrated violence in Creggan last night,”

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said in a statement. McKee, 29, had earlier posted an image that appeared to be from the riots in the Creggan housing estate in the city of Londonderry, also known as Derry, accompanied by the words “Derry tonight. Absolute madness.”

Images of the unrest posted on social media showed a car and van ablaze and hooded individuals throwing petrol bombs and fireworks at police vehicles. “A single gunman fired shots in a residential area of the city and as a result wounded Ms McKee,” said Hamilton, adding that police believed the gunman was a “violent dissident republican”.

“We are treating this as a terrorist incident and we have launched a murder inquiry,” he added.