Off-Duty Police Officer Shot in Omagh Named as John Caldwell

Rebecca Black (PA

The senior police officer shot in Omagh has been named as Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell as police said the primary focus of the investigation is on dissident republicans.

Mr Caldwell remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital following the attack at a sports complex in Omagh, in Co Tyrone, on Wednesday evening.

He was shot a number of times at the facility by masked men in front of young people he had been coaching.

Mr Caldwell was a high-profile officer who 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.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have launched an attempted murder investigation.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan told BBC Radio Ulster the “primary focus” on the investigation was on “violent dissident republicans”.

He said: “The investigation is at an early stage, we are keeping an open mind. There are multiple strands to that investigation.

“The primary focus is on violent dissident republicans and within that there is a primary focus as well on New IRA.”

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 shooting has been condemned by politicians across the UK and Ireland.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was appalled by the “disgraceful shooting of an off-duty police officer in Omagh”.

Irish premier Leo Varadkar condemned the “grotesque act of attempted murder”.

Chief Inspector John Caldwell has been named as the off-duty police officer injured in a shooting at a sports complex in the Killyclogher Road