Two Men Arrested In Connection With Omagh Security Alert

Two men, aged 56 and 29, have been arrested in connection with a security alert in Omagh on Saturday 06 May.

At around 10pm on Saturday, three masked men hijacked a silver-coloured Volkswagen Golf in the Fireagh Road area, off the Dromore Road in Omagh. The men placed a suspicious object in the vehicle and forced the driver to travel to the Derry Road area and abandon the car outside Omagh Police Station.

A public safety operation was immediately implemented, with a number of people evacuated from their homes and cordons established.

Ammunition Technical Officers examined the object and it was removed from the scene for further examination to establish its viability.

Following a search in the Omagh area on Sunday 7th May, a 56-year-old man was arrested. A further search was carried out in the Strabane area, leading to the arrest of a 29-year-old man.

Both search and arrest operations were carried out under the Terrorism Act. Two vehicles were seized for forensic examination.

The men were taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station to be questioned.

Inspector Will Brown said: "Thank you to all those who were impacted and to the wider public for your patience and cooperation. We are also grateful for the understanding of those impacted by the ongoing police activity in the Fireagh Road area.

"We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who was in the vicinity of the church on the Fireagh Road, or travelling between the Fieragh Road and Omagh Police Station between 9pm and 10pm last night.

"If you saw anything suspicious, or you have dash cam which may assist with our investigation, please get in touch by calling 101, quoting serial 2015 of 6/5/23.

"You can also make a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org/."