A young man, shot several times in the upper body, remained in a critical condition last night at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. His bullet-ridden body was discovered by a passer-by just outside Maghera, Co Derry.
A police spokesman said they were following a definite line of inquiry but do not believe the shooting was sectarian or part of any paramilitary feud.
The RUC is questioning three people about the shooting of a man in Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, on Thursday evening. The injured man was treated in hospital for gun-pellet wounds to the chest and face but released later. Police do not suspect a paramilitary motive behind the shooting.
The Independent Commission for Police Complaints is to oversee an investigation into an incident in which the RUC opened fire on a group of men in south Belfast early yesterday. The shooting happened after the RUC raided a house in the Donegall Road area. A police spokesman said that when officers entered the house three men, at least one of whom was armed with a handgun, fled through the back door, while a fourth was detained. Police fired several shots and, in a follow-up search, a man with a gunshot wound to the leg was arrested. Mr Wayne Hindes (21) was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he underwent surgery. His injuries are not life-threatening. His father claimed the RUC had over-reacted.
A group of suspected loyalist paramilitaries wielding baseball bats forced their way into a flat in Bangor, Co Down, shortly after midnight on Thursday and attacked a man, who was later treated for head injuries.