Northern Ireland police arrest fifth man over shooting of detective in Omagh

Police in Northern Ireland have arrested a fifth man in connection with the shooting of a detective chief inspector, John Caldwell.

The suspect, 43, was arrested on Friday evening as police confirmed dissident republican group the New IRA was their primary line of inquiry.

DCI Caldwell was left critically ill and sustained life-changing injuries when he was attacked in front of his young son on Wednesday night after coaching an under-15s football team in Omagh, police said.

Four other men, aged 22, 38, 45 and 47, had already been arrested in connection with the attempted murder and remain in police custody.

Assistant chief constable Mark McEwan confirmed they are treating the attack, which happened in the car park of a sports complex, as terrorist-related.

“Our primary line of inquiry is the New IRA,” he said. “Detectives want anyone who was in the area or who witnessed what happened to call 101 quoting reference number 1831 of 22/02/23.”

DCI John Caldwell suffered life-changing injuries in the shooting. Photograph: David Young/PA

The latest arrest took place in the Stewartstown area of the town under the Terrorism Act and comes as a number of events were due to be held on Saturday, in solidarity with Caldwell.

His football club, Beragh Swifts FC, has organised a walk, which will be followed by a rally in the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone.

The rally will be held at the courthouse in Omagh, close to where a 1998 bombing killed 29 people in what was the single most deadly atrocity of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.

“He was taking a kids’ training session – it’s hard to compute that someone would try to attempt to kill John at that moment,” said the Beragh Swifts chair Ricky Lyons.

Caldwell, a senior officer who has led high-profile investigations into paramilitaries and other criminals, is understood to have been shot four times.

While no one has claimed responsibility, the New IRA is known to have launched sporadic attacks on police and prison officers in recent years.

It was the most serious attack on the police since a booby-trap bomb killed a constable, Ronan Kerr, in 2011.

Police and intelligence services have thwarted many attempted attacks since then.

Wednesday’s attack occurred 20 miles (32km) from Strabane, where a New IRA improvised explosive device damaged a police patrol car last November. The two officers inside were not hurt.