Two charged on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts and attempted murder attack on senior detective John Caldwell
POLICE PROBE Two charged on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts and attempted murder attack on senior detective John Caldwell
TWO men have been charged to appear in court on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts and perverting the course of justice in connection with the attempted murder of DCI John Caldwell.
The PSNI said on Tuesday that detectives from Serious Crime Branch had charged the two men following their arrests and subsequent detention under the Terrorism Act on Monday.
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A 45-year-old man, arrested in the Stewartstown area and a man aged 25, arrested in west Belfast, have both been charged with the preparation of terrorist acts and perverting the course of justice.
They are due to appear at Dungannon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday morning.
As is usual procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
DCI John Caldwell is a police officer in Omagh, Northern Ireland.
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He was shot while coaching an underage Gaelic football team at around 8pm on February 22, 2023.
One of the children at the coaching session was his son.
He is a well known face on TV in Northern Ireland, previously speaking at press conferences and appeals.
What happened to John Caldwell?
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DCI Caldwell was blasted a "number of times" by masked gunmen in front of his son and the young people he was coaching as he loaded footballs into his car.
The cop fell to the ground as he attempted to run, with the shooters continuing to fire at him.
A "brave" member of the public has been praised after rushing towards DCI Caldwell to administer first aid.
An attempted murder probe has been launched with political leaders in the UK and Ireland condemning the horror.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was appalled by the "disgraceful shooting of an off-duty police officer in Omagh".
While Irish premier Leo Varadkar condemned the "grotesque act of attempted murder".
Around 70 young people were at Youth Sport Omagh when the gun attack happened, local sources told Belfast Live.
The attack is the most serious on a police officer since the murder of Ronan Kerr, 25, in 2011 in Omagh.
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He was killed by a bomb that had been attached under his car just outside his home.
Omagh was also the scene of a bombing carried out by dissident republicans on August 15, 1998, which killed 29 people.
The car bombing was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.
It was perpetrated by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army, an IRA splinter group who opposed the ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement.
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