After shots fired at police officer in Northern Ireland: Investigator focuses on new IRA Just missed: Lorry driver loses control and races past police officer

After an assassination attempt on a police officer in Northern Ireland, investigators believe the perpetrators came from the background of the republican-catholic New IRA.

The police officer, who was off duty at the time, was shot multiple times on Wednesday night as he loaded footballs into a car with his son after a practice session in the town of Omagh. He was hospitalized in a critical but stable condition, police said. It would be a senior officer investigating paramilitary and drug-related crime.

The New IRA is an amalgamation of various splinter groups of the paramilitary IRA (Irish Republican Army), which fought for a union of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland during the decades-long civil war. In the late 1990s, the IRA laid down its arms and peace was made in the Good Friday Agreement. But some militants remained active, including among Protestant supporters of the union with Britain. The splinter groups are closely linked to organized crime.

“The investigation is at an early stage,” assistant chief constable Mark McEwan told BBC Radio Ulster on Thursday. All options are being kept open, but the focus is on Republican splinter groups and especially the New IRA.

As the British news agency PA reported, there are suspicions that the perpetrators may have fled across the border to the Republic of Ireland. The researchers therefore worked closely with their colleagues in Ireland.

Politicians from all major parties in Northern Ireland have strongly condemned the killing. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was also shocked. His thoughts are with the officer and his family, Sunak wrote on Twitter. (aeg/sda/dpa)