The fact that two gun attacks that have taken place in the space of two days in west Belfast is a deeply sinister and worrying development that must be roundly condemned.
The first incident, which involved a gunman firing indiscriminately into a group of young people gathered on the Falls Road on Wednesday evening, was shockingly reckless.
One young man suffered gunshot wounds to his legs and it is only by sheer luck that lives were not lost in this attack.
Remarkably, this incident was captured on video which has been posted online.
It shows a silver car being driven at high speed and performing handbrake turns with other motorists swerving to avoid a collision. There then can be heard four shots being fired in quick succession.
The fact that someone would shoot into a crowd of people on what is a busy main road almost defies belief but this is the measure of the violent criminals who believe they can do whatever they want.
Just 24 hours after this terrifying attack, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg at Forest Street, just off the Springfield Road and a short distance from Wednesday's shooting.
The teenager is now in a stable condition in hospital but he has been subjected to a cruel, horrifying and traumatic ordeal.
As PSNI Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said yesterday, this shooting was nothing more than child abuse.
As a society we have become well used to paramilitary-style attacks, where people are taken to a dark alley and told to lie on the ground to be shot.
It is a chilling, barbaric activity that can never be justified, yet it still goes on in parts of Northern Ireland.
The police believe it is too soon to say if the two west Belfast attacks this week are linked but they have confirmed that dissident republicans are suspected of involvement.
This will come as little surprise given the unacceptable violence that has been meted out on a regular basis by these groupings.
A significant number of horrific shootings and beatings took place last year and this has continued into 2017, something that we should all find profoundly disturbing.
These people have absolutely no right to take a gun or a bat to another person and claim they are acting in the interests of `justice'.
The police are determined to assert the rule of law in west Belfast and need the support of local people in that effort.
The criminals and thugs carrying out these attacks have to be brought to justice and anyone who can assist the PSNI should do so.
