Ronan Kerr bomb 'could have killed runners, child'
Police think the bomb had already been planted under Constable Ronan Kerr's black Ford Mondeo (top right) when these runners passed close to it Police believe a bomb which killed a PSNI officer had already been planted under his car while runners taking part in a half-marathon ran past it.
A picture has been released showing two runners and a five-year-old girl close to where the car was parked two hours before Constable Ronan Kerr died.Police said the bomb could have killed or maimed anyone in the area.
Two men are still being questioned by police over the murder and about an arms find in County Tyrone.
Constable Kerr, 25, was killed when the device exploded as he drove his car away from his home in Omagh on Saturday.
A 40-year-old man was arrested when a van was stopped near the Beragh turn-off on the Ballygawley line in County Tyrone on Thursday.
A 26-year-old man arrested in Scotland on Wednesday under the Terrorism Act was re-arrested over Mr Kerr's murder.
Commenting on the threat to people in the area from the bomb, the officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Superintendent Raymond Murray, said: "We already know it was murderous. Now we have evidence that it was potentially indiscriminate.
"This device had the potential to kill or maim anyone who happened to be in the area when Ronan got into his car - whether that was him, two men taking part in a fun run or an innocent five-year-old girl watching the race."
Detectives investigating the murder are returning to the scene at Omagh's Highfield estate on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier on Thursday, a house in Dublin was searched in connection with the murder.
The search was carried out by members of the Garda (Irish police) Special Detective Unit at the request of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
It was at a property on the north side of Dublin, close to the airport.
The man was arrested in a van in County Tyrone The arms found were:
• Four Kalashnikov rifles
• Six loaded ammunition magazines
• Timer power units
• Detonators
• Incendiary bombs
• Components for rocket launchers and other explosive devices
• Quantity of explosives, possibly Semtex
BBC NI home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney said it had been a significant length of time since the police had uncovered an arms haul of this quantity and variety.
He added that if it turned out that the explosives found were Semtex, it would raise questions about whether dissidents had access to a new supply line or whether the explosives formerly belonged to the Provisional IRA.
No comments:
Post a Comment