John Caldwell shooting: Four from Protestant backgrounds among arrests

Criminals from a Protestant background who have links to dissident republicans are among those arrested over the attempted murder of one of Northern Ireland's top detectives.

The detail emerged at a Policing Board meeting on Thursday.

Det Ch Insp John Caldwell was shot several times in Omagh last week and is still critically ill in hospital.

Four of those held for questioning in recent days are believed to have been from a Protestant background.

But police still believe the shooting was carried out and claimed by dissident republican group the New IRA.

Speaking at the meeting, Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said there had been some speculation about the motivation of the shooting because of the background of some of those who had been arrested.

"The individuals being speculated about are involved in criminality and have quite strong and long associations with dissident republicans, namely the New IRA," he said.

"We are clear that this is still being assessed as an attack carried out by the New IRA and that's where the primary focus of the investigation is at this point."

ACC McEwan's comments followed a question by Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly about the background of those who had been questioned by police.

Mr Kelly went on to ask if there was believed to be a "loyalist connection" in the investigation.

ACC McEwan said people should not get "confused" with titles such as loyalism.

"These are people who are involved in criminality. They have strong links to members of the New IRA - those are long-standing links," he said.

"They have been arrested because we have suspected them of being involved in this.

"We still assess that this has been an attack carried out by the New IRA, who have very explicitly stated that they wish to carry out attacks on police officers.

"John has been the target on this occasion."

Det Ch Insp John Caldwell was shot several times in front of his young son in the car park of a sports complex in Omagh on 22 February.

Officers revisited the scene to stop cars and ask drivers if they had any information about the attack on Wednesday, one week on from the attack.

Det Ch Insp Caldwell remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

Also on Wednesday a 33-year-old man was arrested in Omagh, County Tyrone, and a 57-year-old man was detained in Belfast, both under the Terrorism Act.

A 71-year-old man arrested in connection with the attempted murder was released on Wednesday evening and a 47-year-old man was released on Thursday evening.

Four other men were released on Tuesday evening.

The dissident republican group the New IRA has said it shot Det Ch Insp Caldwell.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said two gunmen fired 10 shots at the officer as he was putting footballs into the boot of his car.

At least two other vehicles were hit by bullets, police said, while children ran away in terror.

On Monday, police released CCTV footage of the car believed to be used by the gunmen.

A blue Ford Fiesta had been bought in Ballyclare in County Antrim two weeks before the attack and stored in Belfast, where its plates were changed.

It was then spotted on the M1 driving towards the direction of Coalisland and Omagh the day before the shooting.

The car was later found burnt out on the Racolpa Road outside Omagh.

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered by the Crimestoppers charity.

The New IRA used a typed statement taped to a wall beside shops in the Creggan estate in Londonderry to claim it was responsible for shooting Det Ch Insp Caldwell.

A forensic team was at the scene on Monday morning and removed the statement for further examination.