Two arrested over shooting of Northern Irish journalist Lyra McKee

The scene in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Friday April 19, 2019, following the death of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee who was shot and killed during overnight rioting. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

The scene in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Friday April 19, 2019, following the death of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee who was shot and killed during overnight rioting. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

Published Apr 20, 2019

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London - Police have arrested two young men in connection with

the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old journalist during a riot in the

Northern Irish city of Derry/Londonderry.

Lyra McKee was standing near police when she was shot in the head

around 11 pm (2300 GMT) on Thursday in the suburb of Creggan. The

city is known as Derry to Irish nationalists and Londonderry to

British unionists.

The men are aged 18 and 19, police said on Saturday. They have been

taken to Belfast, the Northern Irish capital, for questioning.

Police described the shooting as a "terrorist incident" and suspect

it was linked to a militant group known as the New Irish Republican

Army (IRA).

The New IRA rejects the Good Friday agreement of 1998, which put an

end to three decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland that

claimed more than 3,600 lives. They want to bring about a united

Ireland.

Police on Friday released footage of the shooting showing one

suspect.

The unrest in the city came just before the Easter weekend, when

republican dissidents, who want to reunify Northern Ireland with the

Republic of Ireland, traditionally mark the anniversary of the 1916

Easter Uprising against British rule.

dpa

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