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Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry.<\/p>\nTwo men have been arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry.<\/p>\n
The men, aged 18 and 19, were arrested by PSNI detectives this morning.<\/p>\n
They were arrested under the Terrorism Act and have been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite.<\/p>\n
Ms McKee, a 29-year-old published author from Belfast, was shot in the head during riots in the Creggan Estate on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Police said yesterday they believe the attack was carried out by dissident republicans linked to the New IRA.<\/p>\n
CCTV released by the PSNI captured her final moments at around 10pm, when she stood among a crowd of other innocent bystanders and raised her phone in the air, apparently to photograph the violence.<\/p>\n
Shaky mobile phone footage also released by detectives showed a masked gunman lean from behind cover and appear to fire shots towards police and onlookers.<\/p>\n
Police, who described the shooting as a \u201cterrorist incident\u201d, believe the violence was orchestrated in response to an earlier search by officers aimed at averting imminent trouble associated with this week\u2019s anniversary of the Easter Rising.<\/p>\n
Around 50 petrol bombs were thrown in the confrontation and two cars were burned out.<\/p>\n
Catholic priest Father Joseph Gormley, who read the last rites for Lyra McKee, said: \u201cIt was heartbreaking to see a young woman, 29 years of age, lying in Altnagelvin hospital. It was just so sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis rioting was clearly orchestrated. I have no problems saying that, everybody in our community knows that,\u201d he told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today.<\/p>\n
We have a small group of people who want to play political games with our lives and want to use our community as a place where they can play their little war games.<\/p>\n
Fr Gormley continued: \u201cPeople in our community have tried to have conversations with these people and I have been involved to some degree with those conversations myself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have not listened and now our community are finally saying \u2018enough is enough, please get off our backs\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, who leads the inquiry, described the murder as “senseless and appalling beyond belief”.<\/p>\n
An outpouring of tributes to Ms McKee was led by her partner, Sara Canning, who said her “amazing potential was snuffed out by this single barbaric act”.<\/p>\n
Ms Canning said: “Victims and LGBTQIA community are left without a tireless advocate and activist and it has left me without the love of my life, the woman I was planning to grow old with.<\/p>\n
“This cannot stand, Lyra’s death must not be in vain because her life was a shining light in everyone else’s life and her legacy will live on and the life that she has left behind.”<\/p>\n
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the murder of Lyra McKee was “a reminder of how fragile peace still is in Northern Ireland”, adding: “We must all work to preserve the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement.”<\/p>\n
A vigil will be held today in Omagh in CoTyrone which has been organised by the Omagh Trade Union Council and the Northwest Branch of the National Union Of Journalists.<\/p>\n
A minute’s silence will be held before a separate rally in Belfast over citizen’s rights after Brexit.<\/p>\n