Car rammed and shots fired in quiet residential area

A shooting incident in a quiet, residential area of Londonderry this morning has been likened to 'something out of the Wild West'.
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DUP councillor David Ramsey, speaking at the scene of the shooting, said it was his understanding a car was rammed in the Sevenoaks area of the Waterside, before two shots were fired.

A car was later found burnt out in the predominantly loyalist Lincoln Courts estate less than a mile away.

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PSNI forensic teams could be seen carrying out investigations in a cordoned off section of the Sevenoaks estate this morning.

The scene of a shooting in Sevenoaks, Londonderry.The scene of a shooting in Sevenoaks, Londonderry.
The scene of a shooting in Sevenoaks, Londonderry.

DUP MLA Gary Middleton described the incident as “very disturbing.”

“At the scene of incidents in Sevenoaks and Lincoln Courts this morning,” he said.

“Gunshots fired and car burnt out.”

His party colleague, councillor David Ramsey, spoke to the News Letter at the scene: “There was a car rammed at 7 o’clock this morning. Someone got out of the car and fired two shots at another car. There is another car burn out in Lincoln Courts.”

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He continued: “I would utterly condemn what happened on our streets ­— guns on our streets.

“It is like something out of the Wild West. It is crazy to think that, at the time of the morning, kids were probably getting out of their beds and they may have heard or witnessed some of what has happened here.

“It is a quiet, mixed and settled area here. We don’t know whether someone has moved into the area, or exactly what has happened here, but the polcie are doing their best to find out. The investigation is ongoing, and as we can see it is a very thorough investigation with forensics etc, and we are hoping that whoever is involved in this will be brought to justice.”

A nearby resident, who asked not to be identified, told the News Letter they had not been long out of bed when they heard the gunshots ring out.

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“I was just up and I heard these loud bangs — I didn’t know what it was,” the resident said.

Another resident, who also asked not to be named, said: “It is just terrible, terrible. I thought we’d left all that behind us.”

The ramming incident and the shooting incident occurred in Sevenoaks, a residential area, not far from an old people’s home and one of the city’s main fire stations.

The PSNI said police were in attendance at an incident in the Sevenoaks area of Derry.

“Cordons have been put in place whilst officers conduct their enquiries and members of the public are asked to avoid the area. There are no further details at present,” a spokesman confirmed.