'ABSOLUTE MADNESS'
Haunting final tweet of journalist, 29, just minutes before she was shot dead by ‘New IRA’ in terror attack
Lyra McKee was shot dead by a stray bullet as a riot erupted in the Creggan area of the city last night
A FEMALE journalist posted a haunting final tweet about the “madness” of the riots in Londonderry moments before she was gunned down in a suspected terror attack.
Lyra McKee, 29, is believed to have been killed by a stray bullet after masked dissident Republican thugs opened fire at police in the Creggan area of the city last night.
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Police believe the New IRA was "most likely" behind the "terrorist incident", saying Ms McKee was an "innocent bystander".
Just four minutes before her death the journalist posted a photo from the scene of the riots captioned: "Derry tonight. Absolute madness."
More than 50 petrol bombs were thrown at police and two cars hijacked and set on fire.
Footage uploaded on Twitter also alleged to show the harrowing moment the fatal shot was fired.
In the video, two gunshots ring out before distant screams of, "Help! Help!" are heard.
Speaking this morning, Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said journalist Ms McKee was murdered by dissident republicans.
The loss her friends feel is unquantifiable. Unfathomable. She is utterly irreplaceable.
Devastated friend of victim
ACC Hamilton said: "We believe this to be a terrorist act, we believe it has been carried out by violent dissident republicans, our assessment at this time is that the New IRA are most likely to be the ones behind this and that forms our primary line of inquiry.
"This is a horrendous act, it is unnecessary, it is uncalled for, it is totally unjustified."
Harrowing witness accounts suggest the woman may have been shot in the head by a stray bullet fired at police at around 11pm.
Local council candidate Emmet Doyle wrote online: "A masked figure stopped at the bottom of the road and fired shots up towards the [police] Land Rovers.
RIOTS ON THE STREETS
"We all turned and ran, I stopped beside the land rover nearer the top of the street and a girl beside me dropped to the ground."
Tributes from friends have also poured in.
One devastated pal told MailOnline: "The loss her friends feel is unquantifiable. Unfathomable. She is utterly irreplaceable."
Katherine Hughes wrote on Twitter: "I love you and I'm so sorry we didn't book a flight over sooner. I'm so sorry."
She branded the killer as "an absolute animal" as she paid tribute to her friend.
Matthew Hughes posted: "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."
'SICK TO MY STOMACH'
Leona O'Neill, who was at the scene, said she called an ambulance for the tragic woman.
She tweeted: "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."
The rioting erupted after a raid on a house that a large number of officers conducted in the area, with the police saying they were trying to prevent militant attacks that had been planned for the weekend.
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MISSILES THROWN AT COPS
A major security operation was launched in Creggan after masked thugs lobbed petrol bombs and opened fire at police.
Fireworks are also understood to have been thrown at officers - while a hijacked van and other vehicles were set alight.
Armed cops were last night patrolling the smoke-filled streets of the city - as burned out cars and broken glass littered the area.
ACC Mark Hamilton of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Twitter: "Sadly I can confirm that following shots being fired tonight in Creggan, a 29 year old woman has been killed.
"We are treating this as a terrorist incident and we have launched a murder enquiry.”
They had earlier called for calm as rioting broke out on Thursday evening.
Politicians have also condemned the violence.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Robin Swann said news of the death was "devastating", adding: "A precious life lost, we can't go back to this nor can we allow others to drag us back."
Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O'Neill said the killing was a "senseless loss of life".
And Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster tweeted: "Heartbreaking news. A senseless act. A family has been torn apart."
Heartbreaking news. A senseless act. A family has been torn apart
Arelene Foster, DUP leader
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley said she was "deeply shocked and saddened" by McKee's death.
Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said on Twitter: "Another senseless loss of a young life. This is a very sad day."
He said words of tribute by fellow Labour MP Kevin Brennan "speak for us all".
Mr Brennan tweeted: "Shocked to learn this Good Friday morning of the death of Lyra McKee - a fine young journalist shot and killed doing her job in Northern Ireland - let us repledge ourselves to work for peace and end such senseless tragedy."
Dramatic pictures showed the gutted remains of cars as masked thugs lobbed petrol bombs and other missiles.
Crowds can be seen in the background watching as a car goes up in flames and police are pelted with objects.
Others show armed cops standing by the remains of burned-out cars after the violence subsided.
Tensions have flared as Republicans prepare to mark the anniversary of the Easter Rising - the 1916 rebellion against British rule in Ireland.
It is understood Ms McKee had recently moved to Derry to live with her partner.
She worked as an editor for California-based news site Mediagazer, a trade publication covering the media industry.
The IRA and the New IRA
The New IRA is an illegal dissident Irish republican paramilitary group which wants a united Ireland.
The Real IRA formed in 1997 after a split in the Provisional IRA after some members were unhappy with the IRA’s ceasefire that year and the ensuing Good Friday Agreement which was signed in 1998.
The New IRA is believed to have been formed between 2011 and 2012 following the merger of a number of smaller groups, including the Real IRA - the group behind the 1998 Omagh bomb.
The terrorist group believes it is the successor to the original Irish Republican Army.
Since its formation it has waged a violent campaign against the security forces in Northern Ireland and is thought to be responsible for a number of bombings and shooting.
The New IRA is the biggest of the dissident republican groups operating in Northern Ireland.
It has been linked with four murders including the shooting of journalist Lyra McKee in Londonderry on Thursday night.
The other murders include Pc Ronan Kerr, who was killed by an under-car bomb in Omagh in 2011.
The group is also linked to the deaths of prison officers David Black, who was shot as he drove to work at Maghaberry Prison in 2012, and Adrian Ismay, who died in 2016 after a bomb exploded under his van outside his home in east Belfast.
It is strongest in Derry, north and west Belfast, Strabane in Co Derry, Lurgan in Co Armagh, and pockets of Tyrone.
This year the group was responsible for a car bomb outside the courthouse in Bishop Street, Derry.
The explosives-laden car was left on the city centre street on a Saturday night in January, and scores of people, including a group of teenagers, had walked past before it detonated.
The New IRA also claimed a number package bombs posted to targets in London and Glasgow in March.
MOST READ IN NEWS
In 2016, Forbes Magazine named her one of their 30 under 30 in media. She had been working on a new book which had been due to be published in 2020.
McKee was writing a book on the disappearance of young people during three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, which ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement peace deal. She was described by publisher Faber as a rising star of investigative journalism.
The killing comes after a car bomb detonated outside a courthouse in Londonderry in January.
No one was injured in the huge blast.
Journalist Lyra McKee delivers TED Talk fighting for change in religious teaching on LGBT people
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