Mother and two children killed in shooting, BBC understands


Abigail Taylor

BBC News NI

Catherine Doyle

BBC News NI

Reporting fromReporting from Maguiresbridge
Pacemaker A blue sign in the middle of a road which read POLICE ACCIDENT - trees and grass verge on side of the road. Behind the sign is a police car which blue lights with a tape behind. Pacemaker

Police say a presence will remain in the Drummeer Road area

A woman in her 40s and two children, one boy and one girl, have been killed in a shooting in County Fermanagh.

BBC News NI understands that it is a mother and two children.

Police said two of the victims were declared dead at the scene in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday morning, a third died later in hospital.

Police confirmed three people died from gunshot wounds and one adult male is being treated for serious injuries at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. All four people are members of the same household.

Supt Robert McGowan told a press conference police have started a murder investigation and are working to determine the circumstances.

He said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) received a call at 07:50 BST on Wednesday morning and officers from Enniskillen PSNI station went to the scene.

Supt McGowan told reporters he believed the alarm was raised via a phone call made from within the house.

Earlier, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it received a call at 08:21 BST on Wednesday and sent three vehicles and the air ambulance to the scene.

Supt McGowan is wearing a green police t-shirt.

The PSNI have launched a murder investigation

Supt McGowan said it was a “harrowing scene” for officers to attend and a police presence would remain in the area.

He said the police have commenced a murder investigation and are working to determine the circumstances.

He added that no arrests have been made at the minute and “it is not anticipated that they will be made”.

The officer said the suspect had a “limited footprint” with police and there was a “limited domestic history” involving the people concerned.

The Drumeer Road outside Maguiresbridge is a quiet rural area.

The road has been closed from early this morning with a stationary police car blocking those approaching.

A large media presence has gathered at the police tape as officers carry out work at the scene.

Map of Northern Ireland showing the location of Maguiresbridge in the southwest of the country, about 25 miles (40km) south of Omagh

Ken Hutchinson, who lives in the area, said “it’s a shock for the whole community”.

He said he’s thinking of the immediate family of the victims.

He said Maguiresbridge is a community where “everyone mixes well” and “this is a complete contrast to the normal goings on in this place”.

“It’s a terrible shock, ” he added.

He said it’s a “tragedy” and “unbelievable” that children have been killed.

Two people holding dog leads. A man on the left is wearing a red Man United football shirt. A woman, right, is wearing a white t-shirt and has long blonde hair.

Local people say they are devasted by the news

Margaret Erwin, who also lives in the community, says “it’s heartbreaking to hear”.

She something like this is devastating “no matter where it happens, but to be on your doorstep, is particularly sad.”

“To be aware of the friends of other friends of the children involved, it just brings it closer to home and makes it more real for us”.

“You’re not out of the woods in a rural area,” she added.

Democratic Unionist Party assembly member Deborah Erskine urged people not to speculate about the incident, while “police carry out their work”.

“This is truly shocking and has stunned the entire community,” she added.

“The area of Maguiresbridge where this has happened is a rural, quiet area and everyone is deeply affected by what has happened this morning.”

Erskine said the incident is “unimaginable”.

She said: “Things like this are very rare, they don’t happen in this part of the world, it is a close knit community.”

Erskine said the incident has “caused widespread shock, not just in Maguiresbridge, but right across Fermanagh”.

Deborah Erskine stands on the road in front of the police cordon. The police car in the background is out of focus. She is wearing a red top with a black jacket over the top. Her light-brown hair is shoulder length and she has a somber look on her face.

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine said the community is in shock

“This is a small rural area, this road is a very rural road, things like this are completely unexpected in this part of the world.

“The foremost in all in all of our thoughts will be with the family and what they have had to deal with today,” Erskine told BBC News NI.

Sinn Féin MP Pat Cullen said her “thoughts are with the victims and their families at this tragic time”.

She said: “I am thinking of their families and those wee children’s school friends and how it must feel in a close knit community like this.

“The community is heartbroken, as we are, and totally shocked at the news as any community would be.”

Pat Cullen. She has shoulder length blonde hair, wearing pearl earrings and green tweed cardigan.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP Pat Cullen said the community is “heartbroken”

Cullen also paid tribute to the paramedics who had to work under a “really tragic set of circumstances”.

“They’re all human beings as well, it’s unimaginable how much this will impact on them,” Cullen told BBC News NI.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said her “thoughts and sympathies are with those affected” following the “horrific incident”.

She also asked people not to “speculate, online or elsewhere, as to the details surrounding it while it is being investigated”.

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