Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Girls feared gunmen would turn weapons on them...
Woman tells of punishment attack terror
A RESIDENT has told how four terrified young girls feared they would be targeted next after witnessing a punishment shooting.
A 33-year-old man was blasted four times in the legs and abdomen by a masked gang at around 9.35pm on Tuesday night.
His injuries are understood to be serious but not life-threatening.
A local woman, who did not want to be named, tended to the children who were at the scene in the Lisfannon Park area of Derry at the time of the attack.
She said: “I heard three or four bangs and I went out to see what had happened.
“I saw the young girls screaming for their mothers. They were squealing and crying and they were so terrified they couldn’t move. They were worried the gunmen were going to come back and get them because they thought the gunmen had seen their faces.
“I told them not to worry about that because the eejits responsible would be more interested in getting away.
“When their mothers arrived at the scene minutes later the girls hugged them.
“A few minutes later two ambulances arrived. Paramedics tended to the man who had been shot before taking him to hospital.
“The girls were deeply stressed and no doubt they will have nightmares about what they witnessed.
“I just don’t know how they and their families will cope over the next few days.”
It is understood the victim of the shooting is from Dungiven.
A PSNI spokesman described the attack as “brutal and horrific” and asked for the community’s help in identifying the four gunmen.
Deputy Mayor John Boyle said those responsible had no support in the community. The SDLP councillor added: “This was as brutal as it was sinister.
“The victim turned up here last night and was shot in an alleyway at the rear of houses in Lisfannon Park.
“The poor man must have felt he was in a situation whereby this was his only option.
“It is absolutely not the way people want to see our society progress.
“It is brutal summary justice and it is completely unacceptable for anyone to bring guns on to the streets and to shoot an individual in this sort of fashion.”
Sinn Fein Foyle MLA Karen Mullan said she was on the scene minutes after the shooting.
She added: “I live nearby and I heard about it quite quickly.
“This is a very quiet area where most of the local residents are either elderly or young families and there is now a fear in the community because of this shooting.
“These type of shootings, in fact all shootings, must be taken out of community life.”