The PSNI has shot a man dead and arrested five other people at a vehicle checkpoint in Co Down. The incident is under investigation by the Police Ombudsman and has prompted SDLP calls for the police to state publicly what happened.
The man died after shots were fired at a silver BMW car, thought to be stolen, as it approached a checkpoint in Ballynahinch at around 11.30am yesterday.
It may have come from the Ballykinlar area of south Co Down headed for Belfast. Police officers set up the checkpoint to intercept the car with the six people inside.
Circumstances surrounding the shooting remain unclear. However, the car came to a halt in the driveway of a house a few metres before the checkpoint on Church Street, just outside the PSNI station.
One source told The Irish Times that the body was a short distance from the car. However, security sources later indicated that the man was shot while he was still in the car and that his body was only taken outside so he could receive first aid treatment.
Fr Gerard McCrory, a priest from St Patrick's church beside the PSNI station, had just finished celebrating Easter Sunday Mass when he went to the scene thinking it was a road crash. "As I looked at the person on the ground it was fairly obvious he was quite close to death," he told a local radio station.
"Just shortly after that I was told there was a shooting incident and apparently there were a couple of cars involved. I did administer to the man because I had reason to think he belonged to the Catholic community. Obviously one thinks of the person's family and it's just dreadful news to get on Easter Sunday."
Justin Felice, Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's chief investigator, said the office was investigating the incident according to procedure after a police gun is discharged. "My investigators are up at the scene, they have taken control of the scene and they are going to conduct an independent investigation in respect of the circumstances leading up to this incident," he said.
Unionists do not believe the shooting was paramilitary-linked. Jim Wells, a South Down DUP Assembly member, said: "Police obviously had to make a split-second decision based on the information they had. As a result of that, shots were fired and a man has died. We must wait now until the investigation is completed."
However SDLP MP Eddie McGrady called for the officers involved in the incident to be relieved of duties pending the investigation. "All the circumstances are not yet known, but it would appear that the fatality was a consequence of a chase by police and attempted arrest of a person or persons who stole a car. There were innocent people present in a second car, so the circumstances were obviously complex and difficult," he said.
"But the fundamental fact remains that a police firearm was used, presumably in protection of life.
"Obviously a full inquiry is required immediately," Mr McGrady added.