• 3 men have been detained in attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell.
• Who was shot in front of his son and other children.
• The Police Federation has called the shooting a “callous, cold-blooded and barbaric attempted murder”.

In relation to the attempted murder of a well-known detective in Northern Ireland, three men have been detained.

At a sports complex on Wednesday, Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot multiple times in front of his son and other kids.

The men arrested are 38, 45, and 47 years old, according to Simon Byrne, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and they are presently being questioned by police.

According to PSNI Acting Chief Constable Mark McEwan, Caldwell was shot many times on Wednesday as he loaded footballs into his car with his son in Omagh, County Tyrone.

“Two gunmen approached and we believe both have fired multiple shots. John ran a short distance and fell to the ground. While he was on the ground, the gunmen continued to fire at him,” McEwan said, describing the attack.

The shooting occurred in a crowded space with children nearby, McEwan added, and that “we saw many of those young people and children running in sheer terror to get to safety.” Caldwell remains in a “critical but stable condition” after being taken to hospital.

Police launched an attempted murder investigation and have appealed for witnesses to contact them. “[The] investigation is in early stage. We believe the gunman made off in a small dark car which was later found burned out.” McEwan told Radio Ulster.

McEwan also said “our primary focus is on violent dissident republicans” in the investigation, singling out a group called the New IRA, which was responsible for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in 2019.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland has called the attack a “callous, cold-blooded and barbaric attempted murder on an off-duty officer” and appealed to anyone with information to come forward.

The Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar condemned the shooting as a “grotesque act of attempted murder,” on Twitter.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled by the disgraceful shooting,” writing on Twitter, “My thoughts are with the officer and his family. There is no place in our society for those who seek to harm public servants protecting communities.”

The attack is the most serious to occur in Northern Ireland in a number of years; according to Reuters, a police officer was last shot there in 2017.

In the 30-year struggle between Protestant pro-British loyalists and Roman Catholic nationalists, an explosion in 1998 in the town of Omagh resulted in the single bloodiest incident. 29 people were murdered, including a mother who was expecting twins, and over 300 were injured.

It took place near the end of the Troubles, a deadly period that spanned from the late 1960s until the late 1990s. Also, it had been four months since the Good Friday peace pact was signed, ushering in a new era in the region despite some combat still going on.

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