Police question two teenagers and two men over killing of journalist in Derry

Police investigating the death of the journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot during disturbances in Northern Ireland last month, have arrested two teenagers and two men.

McKee, 29, was hit as she reported on unrest in Derry while standing close to a police vehicle. The New IRA, a dissident republican group, admitted responsibility but the person who fired the shot and those who police say helped him have yet to be identified.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said four males aged 15, 18, 38 and 51 were detained under terrorism legislation in connection with the violence, which they say was “orchestrated”.

The arrests were made in Derry on Thursday morning and followed searches at four homes.

Det Supt Jason Murphy said: “Detectives carried out searches at four houses in the city and arrested four people in connection with the violence which was orchestrated on the streets of Creggan on the evening of Lyra McKee’s murder. They are currently in custody, where they are being questioned.”

Murphy said more than 140 people had provided images, footage and other details to the investigation. He thanked the public for their support and urged others with information to come forward.

Police said the males were arrested by the major investigations team and were being questioned at Musgrave police station in Belfast.

The PSNI chief constable, George Hamilton, used a speech on Tuesday to increase pressure on those involved in the killings and anyone who helped them. “On the night of Thursday 18 April, bullets meant for police officers claimed the life of Lyra McKee. A young woman who championed inclusivity, murdered by young men who have been lost in the margins of our new beginning,” he said at Queen’s University Belfast.

“Her killers are not just the young man who fired the gun and his accomplice who recovered the casings, her killers are also those who supplied the gun and orchestrated the journey of those young men to the moment in which Lyra was murdered.”

Police have released CCTV of the person they believe fired the fatal shot. While the footage does not show his face clearly, the suspect appears to be short, stocky and in his late teens.

There was shock at the killing of McKee on 18 April, and the New IRA claimed the gunfire was meant to be aimed at police.

Police have praised residents in Creggan, a republican stronghold, for their level of cooperation.