The police came under attack in Londonderry yesterday evening which saw them attacked with petrol bombs and shots being fired which sadly killed a 29 year old woman police have confirmed.
Police had been carrying out a security operation on a number of house in the Creggan area of the city on Thursday evening. Searches were carried out in Mulroy Park and Galliagh areas, when a crowd which had gathered began to throw petrol bombs and other items.
Two vehicles were hijacked and set on fire, one a van and the other a car. The rioting spilled over to Fanad Drive where a number of shots were fired at the police. The area has now been cordoned off
A female, believed to be a journalist covering the riot, was injured from what appeared to be as a result of the shots and rushed to hospital in a police land rover. She sadly died as a result of her injuries. Dissident Republicans are being blamed for the killing.
“Sadly I can confirm that following shots being fired tonight in Creggan, a 29 year old woman has been killed. We are treating this as a terrorist incident and we have launched a murder enquiry.”
ACC Mark Hamilton
A video which has appeared on Social Media appears to show a crowd of youths near a vehicle when the shots are fired. The video then zooms into the burnt-out van where an individual can be seen, and possibly the directions the shots were fired from. The crowd then cheers followed by the sound of screaming.
A voice at the end of the video is heard saying:
“They shot someone over there.”
Source: South Londonderry/Randalstoen ACT initiative 
Source: South Londonderry/Randalstoen ACT initiative
Leona O’Neill, a journalist who was on scene at the time, was feet away from the woman who was killed. Speaking on social media Leona wrote;
“I have left Creggan now and am home.
A woman was shot and killed just feet from me on Fanad Drive. She fell at the wheel of a police vehicle.
My friend ran to help her and I rang an ambulance for her but as I was directing them as to where we were police officers placed her into the back of their vehicle and sped through a burning barricade to rush her to hospital. She was just 29-years-old.
A masked gunman fired into a crowd of Creggan people – women and children outside their own homes, local teenagers milling about watching what was going on.
What happened tonight was disgusting and despicable. I feel sick to my stomach.
God bless that young woman”
