Lyra McKee, 29, an award-winning journalist who was writing a book on the disappearance of young people during decades of violence in Northern Ireland, was shot dead on Thursday as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.
Her death, which follows a large car bomb in the city in January, raised fears that small marginalized militant groups are trying to exploit political tensions caused by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.
GUN MAN OPENED FIRE
Northern Ireland’s political parties, which are broadly split between Irish nationalists aspiring to unite the British region with Ireland and unionists who want it to remain British, issued a joint call for calm. “Lyra’s murder was an attack on all the people of this community, an attack on the peace and on the democratic processes,” leaders of the main six parties said in a statement. “This is a time for calm heads.”
McKee was watching with a crowd of bystanders as local youths attacked police with petrol bombs and set cars on fire, video footage showed. Police said McKee was hit when a gunman opened fire in the direction of officers.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Saturday that two men, aged 18 and 19, had been arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with the murder.
It is one of a number of small groups who remain active and oppose the 1998 deal, which largely ended three decades of violence in the region in which over 3,600 died.