Date: 2024-12-09 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00016560 | |||||||||
Terrorist Incident | |||||||||
Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
A 29-Year-Old Journalist Was Killed In What Northern Ireland Police Are Calling A 'Terrorist Incident'
Friends identified the journalist as Lyra McKee, whose work appeared in publications including the Atlantic, Mosaic Science, and BuzzFeed. Posted on April 18, 2019, at 11:42 p.m. ET Tweet Share Copy Facebook / Via facebook.com A 29-year-old journalist was killed Thursday night amid riots in Northern Ireland, her colleagues said, in what police are calling a 'terrorist incident.' The journalist, identified by friends on Twitter as Lyra McKee, was an editor for the news site Mediagazer and was based in Belfast, according to literary agency Janklow and Nesbit's website. Her work included examining the fallout of decades of violence in Northern Ireland, and she was described as a rising star of investigative journalism in an announcement of a publishing deal last year. ADVERTISEMENT Matthew Hughes ✔ @matthewhughes I just received the heartbreaking news that my friend @LyraMcKee was murdered tonight in a terrorist incident in Derry. She was one of my closest friends. She was my mentor. She was a groomswoman at my wedding. I can't imagine life without her, and yet now I must. I'm devastated 1,345 8:22 PM - Apr 18, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 432 people are talking about this The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed that a woman had been killed in the Creggan area of Derry, but they did not immediately identify the victim. 'Sadly I can confirm that following shots being fired tonight in Creggan, a 29 year old woman has been killed,' Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said in a statement on Twitter early Friday morning local time. 'We are treating this as a terrorist incident and we have launched a murder enquiry.' ADVERTISEMENT According to the Telegraph, masked attackers appeared to throw Molotov cocktail fireworks, and other debris at police vehicles during a security operation in the Northern Ireland city. A journalist at the scene said she was standing next to the woman when she was struck by gunfire. 'I called an ambulance for her but police put her in the back of their vehicle and rushed her to hospital where she died,' Leona O'Neill wrote on Twitter. View image on Twitter View image on Twitter Leona O'Neill @LeonaONeill1 I was standing beside this young woman when she fell beside a police Land Rover tonight in Creggan #Derry. I called an ambulance for her but police put her in the back of their vehicle and rushed her to hospital where she died. Just 29 years old. Sick to my stomach tonight 4,301 7:56 PM - Apr 18, 2019 2,003 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy McKee's last tweet showed an image from the scene with black smoke billowing in the distance. 'Derry tonight. Absolute madness,' she wrote. Twitter McKee's work has appeared in various publications, including the Atlantic, Mosaic Science, and BuzzFeed. In 2016, Forbes named her one of their European 30 under 30 in media. She is the author of a non-fiction novella Angels With Blue Faces and was working on a new book The Lost Boys, according to the agency. ADVERTISEMENT Her novella Angels With Blue Faces focused on a cold case from the Troubles, the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland that left more than 3,000 people dead. Gabe Rivera ✔ @gaberivera We are shocked and anguished by reports that our brave and wonderful colleague Lyra McKee has been murdered amid violence in Derry, NI. She has edited Mediagazer since 2011. Our hearts go out to her family and friends. 370 12:06 AM - Apr 19, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 136 people are talking about this Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster called the killing 'a senseless act,' comparing the incident to the violence seen in the Troubles. 'Those who brought guns onto our streets in the 70s, 80s & 90s were wrong. It is equally wrong in 2019,' Foster said on Twitter. 'No one wants to go back.' Picture of Stephanie K. Baer Stephanie Baer is a reporter with BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles. Contact Stephanie K. Baer at stephanie.baer@buzzfeed.com. Got a confidential tip? Submit it here. |