Crime & Law

Appeal for information on car used in Belfast gun attack

PSNI working with Garda in effort to track vehicle used in assault on police in city

One PSNI officer had been looking out the passenger window of an armoured car (above) in Belfast on Thursday evening when two shots struck the bullet-proof glass. Dissident republicans are suspected of being behind the attack. Photograph: PSNI
One PSNI officer had been looking out the passenger window of an armoured car (above) in Belfast on Thursday evening when two shots struck the bullet-proof glass. Dissident republicans are suspected of being behind the attack. Photograph: PSNI
Amanda Ferguson
Sat Nov 28 2015 - 18:19

The PSNI is working closely with An Garda Síochána in an effort to track the movement of a car used during a gun attack on police in west Belfast.

On Thursday evening two police officers escaped injury after their car was shot up to eight times by a gunman armed with a military assault rifle in the Rossnareen Avenue area of the city.

A PSNI spokesman said detectives investigating the attempted murder of the officers are making “a specific appeal for help in tracking the movements of the car used by the would-be killers”.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Campbell said: "We believe the gunman travelled to and from the scene in a black BMW 3 Series bearing the false number plate 05 C 24774. This vehicle was later found on fire in Cluain Mor Drive.

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“We now know that this car had been reported stolen from an address in Ashbourne in county Meath on September 7th, 2015. The genuine registration of this vehicle is 05 LH 5364.

“It is critical to our investigation that we gather as much information as possible about the movements of the BMW between the time it was stolen and it being used in Thursday’s gun attack.”

DCI Campbell would like people on both sides of the Irish border to recall if they saw the vehicle at any time after September 7th.

“We have established that the owner of the stolen vehicle and the individual whose car registration was duplicated on the false plates are both entirely innocent of any involvement in this heinous act and they have been excluded from our enquiries.”

Anyone with information about the movements of the car can contact the PSNI from Northern Ireland by calling 101, or from the Republic of Ireland by calling 048 9065222 and asking for Major Investigation Team detectives at Ladas Drive.

Callers in the Republic of Ireland can also give information to officers at Ashbourne Garda Station, Garda District HQ, County Meath on 01 801 0600 or via the Garda confidential number 1-800-666-111.