DISSIDENTS HAVE murdered two police officers since the PSNI, which replaced the RUC, was formed in 2001.
A Continuity IRA gunman shot dead Constable Stephen Carroll (48) as he sat in a patrol car which was answering a call at an address in Craigavon, Co Armagh, on March 9th, 2009.
Like Ronan Kerr he too, was a Catholic – supporting the widely held belief that dissident groups are targeting Catholic officers in an attempt to deter new recruits from nationalist backgrounds.
Other car bomb attacks on Catholic officers and others with security force connections have been made, but failed. There were three such attempts last August.
Constable Carroll’s murder, the first of a PSNI officer, took place just two days after Real IRA gunmen opened fire on British soldiers at Massereene barracks.
Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar were taking a pizza delivery at the gates of the barracks when the gunmen struck. They were due to deploy to Afghanistan the following day.