The prison officer shot dead on the MI in Northern Ireland was David Black, a father of two, from Cookstown. Mr Black was driving to work on the Belfast-bound lane between Portadown and Lurgan at 07:30 GMT on Thursday. A car with Dublin registration plates drove up beside him and fired a number of shots. His car veered into a ditch. Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris said he sustained a number of very serious and probably fatal gunshot wounds. PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said the killing was a "completely senseless attack" and the victim was "brutally murdered". "It demonstrates the recklessness and the ruthlessness of those who still oppose peace. We cannot allow these people to succeed and we won't," he said. Mr Black was a very experienced prison officer and had worked through the Troubles. Police are investigating a link between the attack and a burnt-out car found in Lurgan, County Armagh. NI's first and deputy first ministers condemned this "brutal attack". In a joint statement, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness said there could be no justification for this murder. "People who work for the Prison Service play a crucial role in our community and any attack on them is an attack on all of us," they said. "Actions like this have no place in society and those who carried out this murder have nothing positive to contribute. "We refuse to let the people behind this attack divert us from building a better and peaceful future for everyone." Justice Minister David Ford said the murder was "shocking news for everyone in Northern Ireland". "My sympathy goes out to his family and colleagues. It is a family and a human tragedy," he said. "But this is a sign of those seeking to drag us back into the past when most of NI is preparing for a different future." Mr Ford said that dissident republicans - thought to be behind the attack - had very little support but could be ruthless. He said the threat level in Northern Ireland remained severe and individual prison and police officers had been targeted. "A number have moved homes in recent times," he pointed out. "But it is a matter of getting the measure of the deadly threat and yet the limited support that it has." Finlay Spratt, chairman of the Prison Officers' Association of Northern Ireland condemned the killing. "I call on the community in the area that those people come from to hand them over and let justice be seen to be done," he said. Speaking about the murdered officer, Mr Spratt said: "He's a long serving officer. He served this community right down through the Troubles, the hunger strike and everything. "This officer did his bit for the community." NI Secretary Theresa Villiers said it was "a cowardly and evil attack". "The thoughts and deepest sympathy of us all are with the family, friends and colleagues of the murdered prison officer," she said. "Like his colleagues across the prison service he was dedicated to serving the whole community in Northern Ireland. This is in stark contrast to the people responsible for this despicable crime." Labour's Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Vernon Coaker said the attack was "sickening and despicable". "Prison officers do a remarkable job in very difficult circumstances. An attack on any one them is an attack on the criminal justice system, the law and the community," he said. Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt said: "Those who have carried out this attack on an innocent man represent the past and have nothing to offer the men, women and children of this country who have long since rejected terrorism." SDLP assembly member for Upper Bann, Dolores Kelly, said the incident was "sickening and disturbing". East Belfast Alliance Party MP Naomi Long also expressed sadness following the shooting. "It has particular ramifications for people," she said. "It is very distressing but also very upsetting in a political way. What the people in Northern Ireland want is for this to be over." This is the 30th prison worker to be murdered since 1974 in Northern Ireland. The last prison officer killed was Jim Peacock who died on 1 September 1993. Loyalist paramilitary gunmen from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) sledgehammered their way into the Peacock family's Joanmount Park home in north Belfast and shot him dead. The motorway has been closed in both directions.
It was quite funny. Still a bite though, and further evidence for the theory that you and Medro are one and the same.
You're right he's probably innocent. He just happens to be in the wrong place everytime a copper is killed ehh.
Another man murdered and one of the main stories in the news. Feel free to **** right off if you don't want to discuss it. Copper, UDR man, soldiers, prison officer. How many murders has this guy got off with? Either he has a really good lawyer or he's a double agent.
