A Police Service of Northern Ireland officer was seriously injured in Downpatrick, County Down, after he was struck by a stolen police car during a pursuit in the town early on Sunday. The officer had fired one round from his weapon moments before the vehicle hit him.
The incident began at about 04:45 BST when a vehicle failed to stop for police in the Fountain Street area of Downpatrick. Officers later found it in Ballymote Walk, where a man ran off on foot towards Colmcille Road. When officers returned to their car in that area, another man was in the driver's seat and drove directly towards the officer, police said.
The force said the officer received urgent medical treatment at the scene from colleagues, with help from members of the local community, before being taken to hospital by ambulance. His injuries were described as serious, but not life-threatening at that time. A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The detail that the officer fired a round before being hit gives the case its sharpest edge. It is also the point that pushed the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the investigation, as is standard when a police firearm is drawn. Melanie Jones said the stolen police car, the officer's weapon and ammunition have all been taken away for forensic examination, meaning the immediate response has shifted into a formal inquiry into what happened in those seconds on Colmcille Road.
The suspect fled after the car was abandoned, leaving investigators with a damaged vehicle, a discharged firearm and a serious injury to examine. What remains unresolved is what led the second man to take the wheel and drive at the officer in the first place, a question that will sit at the centre of the continuing police and ombudsman inquiries.
