Three men arrested over shooting of senior PSNI detective

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Police investigating the attempted murder of a detective in Northern Ireland in February have made three arrests.

Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was seriously injured after he was shot several times at a sports centre in Omagh, Co Tyrone, in February after coaching a youth sports team.

Investigating officers on Tuesday arrested three men, aged 45, 47 and 58, in Newtownabbey, Coalisland and Belfast under the Terrorism Act.

All three have been taken to Musgrave serious crime suite in Belfast for questioning.

Mr Caldwell had been with his son loading footballs into the boot of his car when he was shot.

The so-called New IRA claimed responsibility for the shooting, with police investigating if the dissident republican group may have been assisted by gangsters.

Mr Caldwell spent several weeks in intensive care after the shooting.

The senior detective had led a number of high profile PSNI investigations in Northern Ireland.

Mr Caldwell was seen in public for the first time in May, at a garden party in Royal Hillsborough during a visit by the King and Queen where he had a private audience with Charles.

He spoke in public when he was presented with the special recognition award at the Sunday Life Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards on Friday night.

Seven people have previously appeared in court charged with attempted murder.

There have been 31 arrests in the investigation so far.