Man arrested after explosive device left outside Derry police station
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA
Detectives investigating an incident where a bomb was left outside a police station in Derry have arrested a 54-year-old man from Dungiven.
The man has been detained under the Terrorism Act and has been taken to the serious crime suite at Musgrave police station where he is being questioned.
During the incident on Sunday evening a delivery driver was hijacked by three masked men and made to drive his car to Waterside police station, where it was abandoned.
It sparked a major security alert which led to some children not being able to get to school on Monday.
Detectives from the Terrorism Investigation Unit have arrested a 54-year-old man from the Dungiven area as part of the investigation into a vehicle hijacking and subsequent security alert in the Waterside area of Derry/Londonderry on Sunday November 20th. pic.twitter.com/1PMaUCWnQI
— Police Derry City and Strabane (@PSNIDCSDistrict) November 24, 2022
Police initially said a suspicious object left in the car was an elaborate hoax but later confirmed that it was a viable explosive device.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “The investigation continues and police are appealing to anyone with information to contact them on 101 quoting reference number 1664 20/11/22.”
The security attack was widely condemned by politicians in Northern Ireland.
SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said: “The people who carried out this attack are acting against the will and the wishes of our community.
“They are targeting PSNI officers but their fight is with the people of our city who have chosen to live in peace.
“They will never win that fight.”
The incident came just days after police said they believed the New IRA could be responsible for an incident in which two officers escaped injury when their car was targeted in a bomb attack in Strabane, Co Tyrone.
