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Terror in bookies as man is shot

By Brendan McDaid
Thursday, 30 October 2008

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Terrified customers were forced to watch in horror as masked gunmen opened fire on a man in a bookmaker’s shop in Londonderry’s Bogside.

Two masked men armed with a shotgun entered the Ladbrokes business at Meenan Square shortly before 9pm yesterday.

A number of people in the bookies at the time were forced to lie on the floor as the gunmen singled out a 35-year-old man and shot him in both legs. It is believed he was shot three to four times.

The victim of the attack, who comes from the Bogside area, was later taken to Altnagelvin Hospital. Police said they did not believe his injuries were life-threatening.

Following the shooting, the man's attackers left the shop and ran to nearby Dove Gardens where they hi-jacked a silver-coloured Vauxhall Vectra.

The car was found on fire about a mile away in the Creggan Heights area a short time later.

Police said today that a motive for the attack remains under investigation.

SDLP Councillor John Tierney spoke with the man's family and those at the scene during the shooting last night.

He said today: “I spoke to some of the people who were there and others who were there

shortly afterwards and they described the place as being covered in blood, as if an artery had busted.

“It is shocking they had to see that, it is barbaric,” Mr Tierney added.

“I went and saw the parents of this man and the mother was very, very distressed and in a terrible state.

“At one stage we thought we were going to have to get a doctor for her. Her husband was at the hospital and was able to talk to his son.”

Mr Tierney said he believed those responsible were from the same group behind the fatal shooting of pizza delivery man Emmett Shields in the Creggan area of the city in June this year.

He said: “A number of people I have spoken to around the time it happened were all shocked and all of them condemned the incident.

“There is no support for this in the community. I described it as barbaric and those that were there agreed with me.”

Sinn Fein councillor for the Bogside area Maeve McLaughlin added: “This absolutely and totally must be condemned. This type of incident has no place in any community and it is not the resolution for community issue or ciriminality.”

A PSNI spokeswoman appealed for anyone who saw the men hijacking the car or witnessed it being abandoned in Creggan to contact detectives on 0845 6008000 or Crimsetoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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25 Comments

The trouble is that in Northern Ireland there is a small minority of people who behave like animals. No! Iam sorry that is an insult to animals.

Posted by Billy | 30.10.08, 17:53 GMT

lmao you people are hilarious, bickering about something so stupid, but thankyou, you made my boring day so much better :D

Posted by d | 30.10.08, 17:36 GMT

good comparision ciaran..........NOT.its londonderry on the map mate.check it out.80% of people could call it timbucktoo but that doesnt mean it is

Posted by chris | 30.10.08, 17:13 GMT

80% of the population of "Londonderry" call it "Derry" on a day-to-day basis. Reflect that.

You wouldn't like it if we started calling Belfast Liverpoolbelfast.

Posted by Ciaran | 30.10.08, 16:44 GMT

I never said it was dissidents. But as the Provisionals have ceased their violence there is not many options left as to who carried a punishment shooting in a nationalist area!!!

Posted by Nat | 30.10.08, 14:45 GMT

ok adam lets talk about your grammar instead!

Posted by bet | 30.10.08, 14:39 GMT

nat - so every shooting that takes place in a bookies (are elsewhere) in a nationalist area has to be the Dissidents? that's very stereotypical of you. Do you not think?

Posted by phat Tony | 30.10.08, 14:18 GMT

sick i think you all should stop bickering about the title someone was shot like!

Posted by adam | 30.10.08, 14:04 GMT

John -chico time!

Nigel69 please don't start on again about the whole parade issue and David don't even lower yourself with a response!

Posted by Bod | 30.10.08, 13:36 GMT

maybe i did Ian maybe i did lol. Nat are you telling me that the provos are the only one's who had guns come on now, look to the other side for a change an stop blaming the provos for everything.

Posted by stevo | 30.10.08, 13:21 GMT

what time was the headline changed at??

Posted by john | 30.10.08, 13:08 GMT

David,
Climb down of your cross mate! It's not the shooting but how it originally was reported that annoyed me.....the fact that the Telegraph sensationalised it to the point where the reader was given the impression that a man had lost his life when in fact nothing of the sort happened.....but you are right there is a wide spread acceptance of terrorist acts....just look at the Unionists supporting the parading of a regiment that terrorised the Nationalist community from it's very beginning

Posted by nigel69 | 30.10.08, 12:56 GMT

keep up nat!

Posted by bez | 30.10.08, 12:38 GMT

the headline is not misleading at all. it says a man was shot in a bookies which is true!!!

Posted by Nat | 30.10.08, 12:16 GMT

Is it not a reflection on society in N. Ireland when someone (Nigel69) considers a shooting in a public place not newsworthy? In other parts of the UK there would be justifiable horror at such an act. Clearly one of the legacies of the troubles is the accepting of terrorist acts as normal.

Posted by David | 30.10.08, 12:03 GMT

Nigel69...

Yeah, I feel cheated.

Posted by McD | 30.10.08, 11:50 GMT

Of course everything might not be the dissidents (Stevo) but then again if the Provisional IRA have given up all their arms and are no longer in a war then please tell us who else would have done this????

Posted by Nat | 30.10.08, 11:50 GMT