POLICE in the north of Ireland said on Monday that they were looking into an unverified statement by an Irish Republican Army splinter group claiming responsibility for the shooting of a senior police officer.

A statement allegedly from the New IRA appeared on a wall in Derry late on Sunday, claiming it was responsible for Wednesday’s attack on detective chief inspector John Caldwell.

Two masked men shot DCI Caldwell in front of his young son after the off-duty officer coached a children’s soccer team in Omagh. 

Mr Caldwell remains in hospital in critical condition.

Assistant chief constable Mark McEwan said on Monday that police were aware of the claim of responsibility and were “reviewing its contents as part of the overall investigation.”

Police said last week that they were treating the attempted murder of DCI Caldwell as terrorism-related, and that the New IRA was its primary line of enquiry.

Six men are still in detention for questioning.

Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland put down their arms after the 1998 Good Friday peace accord largely ended “the Troubles.” 

The last fatal attack on a police officer in Northern Ireland was the April 2011 killing of constable Ronan Kerr, who died when a booby-trap bomb exploded under his car in Omagh.