Man shot by police was 'under drugs surveillance'

A man shot dead by police in Northern Ireland had been at the centre of a drugs surveillance operation, it emerged tonight.

Police opened fire on the red Vauxhall Cavalier Neil McConville, 21, was travelling in after it smashed through a roadblock near Lisburn, Co Antrim, injuring two officers.

Mr McConville, from Bleary, Craigavon was hit and died later in hospital while a second man suffered gunshot wounds to the arm. He is expected to be questioned by detectives later.

As Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan’s office launched its first probe into a fatal police shooting, security sources disclosed a quantity of drugs and a gun were found in the vehicle.

One said: “These guys had been monitored for some time.

“We are talking about a criminality issue around drugs rather than terrorism.”

But it is understood a special police operations unit rather than Drugs Squad were involved.

Mrs O’Loan was tonight considering calls for the two officers to be suspended while the circumstances surrounding the shooting are examined.

Her chief investigating officer, David Wood, wants to establish whether the police had no other option but to open fire.

The shooting happened at Upper Ballinderry last night when two police cars tried to stop the Cavalier as it drove along the Crumlin Road.

Neighbours of the dead man said he became a father at the weekend when his girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl.

Relatives described him as a quiet man who was devoted to his new family.

“This has been such a shock,” said one.

“Neil was a quiet young fellow, a good neighbour. We all saw him turn from a boy into a young man so it is really tragic to see this happen.”

One of the police officers hit by the car suffered back, leg and arm injuries. He was in Lagan Valley Hospital where his condition was described as comfortable.

As forensic experts examined the car hit by police bullets, Mr Wood pledged to carry out a full investigation into the shooting.

“The police will be doing a separate investigation as to any offences these men and others may or may not have been involved in,” he said.

The SDLP’s former Assembly member for the area, Patricia Lewsley, called for the officers involved in the shooting to be suspended until Mr Wood completed his probe.

But Democratic Unionist Lagan Valley representative Edwin Poots insisted police had been left with no choice.

He said: “Clearly their lives were threatened and the officers took the option that was available to them.

“In essence this was the only option to bring the vehicle to a halt and prevent the loss of life of police personnel.

“It’s a salutary lesson to us all that things can go wrong but I don’t believe these officers should be suspended.”