Police investigating the death of journalist Lyra McKee, a 29-year-old journalist shot dead in clashes in Londonderry between the dissident group New IRA and law enforcement in April 2019, found the murder weapon , they announced on Monday.
Read also: Brexit: in Northern Ireland, the wounds of the past have been rekindled, and fears have grown among Unionists
Examination of the weapon discovered last weekend in Londonderry, a Hemmerli X-Esse pistol, has "confirmed that it was the pistol that killed Lyra Mc Kee," said in a statement on Northern Irish police chief Jason Murphy. In this case, a suspect has been charged with the murder charge, but the shooter is still on the run.
"I know who is involved. I know who the shooter is, "warned Jason Murphy," I asked the scientists to bring me the evidence that will allow us to complete the puzzle of events. " Lyra McKee was fatally injured on April 18, 2019 in the Catholic district of Creggan, in Londonderry (Derry, for Irish nationalists), a town on the Irish border.
New IRA
A republican dissident group, New IRA, acknowledged responsibility for the young woman's death in a statement to The Irish News, arguing that she was "standing next to enemy forces" in reference to the police. The group had addressed "its sincere and full apologies" to his relatives. The death of Lyra McKee aroused great emotion, bringing back memories of the "Troubles" that tore the British province of Northern Ireland apart for three decades.
This violence between nationalist (Catholic) republicans, supporters of the reunification of Ireland, and unionist loyalists (Protestants), defenders of maintaining the British Crown, killed some 3,500 before ending thanks to the peace agreement of the Good Friday of 1998. The agreement then imposed a withdrawal of British forces and the disarmament of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). But dissident Republicans, fighting for the reunification of Ireland by arms, like the group Nouvelle IRA, created in 2012, remain active.
Read also: In Northern Ireland, rejection of Brexit weakens DUP loyalists