News

Mother attacked as she tried to protect shooting victim son

The 17-year-old was shot in an apartment at Gartan Square in Derry on Wednesday night. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin
The 17-year-old was shot in an apartment at Gartan Square in Derry on Wednesday night. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin The 17-year-old was shot in an apartment at Gartan Square in Derry on Wednesday night. Picture by Margaret McLaughlin

THE mother of a teenage shooting victim was attacked when she attempted to protect her son from a paramilitary-style gun attack.

The woman, who is in her 50s, was treated in hospital for her injuries following the attack on her 17-year-old son at the family home in Derry’s Bogside on Wednesday night.

It has also emerged that the victim’s 16-year-old girlfriend was held back by the gang and forced to watch as he was shot in the leg.

Police said a gang of masked men forced their way into the 17-year-old's home at Gartan Square at around 11pm on Wednesday.

One of the attackers was armed with a baton or wooden bat and the other with a handgun.

The shooting has been widely condemned and described as “barbaric child abuse.”

It is the second paramilitary-style shooting in the city in 24 hours.

A PSNI spokesperson described the attack as "brutal".

"While thankfully this young man's injuries are not life threatening, this was a brutal attack and yet another example of how criminal groups seek to control communities through fear and violence," the PSNI spokesperson added.

SDLP leader, Colum Eastwood said it was important that those responsible were brought to justice.

“Fear and violence didn’t work in the past and won’t work now. With an upsurge in these types of attacks across the city in recent times, I have sought an urgent meeting with the PSNI and I will be working with community and council partners to make our communities safe,” Mr Eastwood said.

The city's deputy mayor John Boyle said, given the victim’s age, the attack could only be described as “barbaric child abuse.”

“We have one young teenager recovering from a shooting and two other victims were completely traumatised by what happened. There is simply no place for this type of behaviour; it cannot be justified,"the SDLP councillor said.

Sinn Féin councillor Colly Kelly also condemned the attack and said it was "important to repeat the message that there is no place for guns or such actions on the streets of our city."

DUP councillor Drew Thompson – chair of the city’s policing partnership – said the shooting "cannot and should not be justified."

Independent councillor Sean Carr, who lives close to Gartan Square, said the people of the Bogside did not support such attacks.

“These gangs have no place in a modern democracy,” he said.