Two questioned over Belfast shooting

A MAN and a woman were being questioned by PSNI detectives last night following what was described as a “barbaric” suspected …

A MAN and a woman were being questioned by PSNI detectives last night following what was described as a “barbaric” suspected so-called punishment shooting in Twinbrook on the outskirts of west Belfast.

A 25-year-old man was shot five times in what in local parlance is often called a “crucifixion” shooting. He was shot in the left hand, in both calves, in his right thigh and in his right shoulder. He was in a “stable” condition in hospital last night.

The man was attacked by a gang of three masked people, one armed with a handgun, after he answered a knock to the door of his flat in Summerhill Drive in Twinbrook, shortly before 11pm on Tuesday.

A man was arrested in nearby Cherry Road shortly after the attack and a woman was arrested yesterday morning.

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Local Sinn Féin Assembly member Jennifer McCann condemned the “sheer recklessness” of the shooting adding that “so-called punishment shootings are a thing of the past and the community does not want them”.

Local SDLP representatives and the Alliance MLA for the area Trevor Nunn, said the attack was “barbaric”.

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times