{"id":1042155,"date":"2026-06-22T04:50:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T04:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1042155\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T04:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T04:50:29","slug":"psni-officer-draws-gun-in-derry-after-motorist-fails-to-stop-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1042155\/","title":{"rendered":"PSNI officer draws gun in Derry after motorist fails to stop \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/tags\/psni\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/tags\/psni\">PSNI<\/a> officer drew his gun after a driver failed to stop in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/tags\/derry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/tags\/derry\">Derry<\/a> on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Police say the black Mercedes was initially spotted on the Buncrana Road at around 12.30pm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">It is understood that the driver then headed in the direction of the city despite having a deflated back tyre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Police gave chase and the vehicle crashed into another vehicle causing damage before taking off once more.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/jeffrey-donaldson-barrister-says-complainants-not-sufficiently-reliable-enough-for-jury-to-find-him-guilty-NPVDDQKBG5H7JELU5FSOYVQUME\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Jeffrey Donaldson barrister says complainants not &#x2018;sufficiently reliable enough&#x2019; for jury to find him guilty\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/LAYJIX7LORKIZDFXRSQMNHDIC4.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/northern-ireland-protest-fears-amid-calls-for-calm-after-belfast-knife-attack-live-updates-3JDOUK3C6BCFZGOKMU2YLIID4Q\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Live: No repeat of violent disorder overnight as anti&#x2011;racism rallies set for tomorrow\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782103829_913_NMBVCNRYFBGX7HGNTEVJ4FYTRU.jpeg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The PSNI deployed a stinger device in the Creggan area in a failed attempt to get the driver to stop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">One PSNI drew his gun after police say he feared for his safety, but the driver still managed to escape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The vehicle was later found abandoned on the other side of the border. Footage of the incident was circulated online.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A report has been made to Police Ombudsman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A PSNI spokesperson said: \u201cThe vehicle was spotted on Buncrana Road at around 12.30pm yesterday, Saturday 20th June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThe driver made off toward the city at dangerous speeds and with a deflated rear tyre. In order to minimise the risk to both the public and the driver, a pursuit was commenced by trained officers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThe Mercedes collided with an uninvolved member of the public\u2019s vehicle as police attempted to force the dangerous vehicle to stop, causing damage but thankfully, no reported injury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cA stinger device was deployed in the Creggan area, in an attempt to bring the pursuit to a safe and controlled conclusion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cFearing for his own safety, one officer drew his weapon, but the driver of the Mercedes swerved and made off, narrowly avoiding another member of the public\u2019s vehicle as he did so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAs is standard procedure when a police firearm is drawn, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has been informed \u2014 and their enquiries are ongoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThe vehicle was found abandoned just over the border minutes later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe are liaising with our colleagues in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na as we seek the driver, and are carrying out forensic testing of the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAs we do so, we would appeal to anyone with information, or relevant dashcam or mobile phone footage, to contact us. It is only by sheer luck that this vehicle was not involved in a more serious collision yesterday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThe number to call is 101, quoting reference 351 26\/03\/26.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The police said a report can also be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psni.police.uk\/report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.psni.police.uk\/report\">psni.police.uk\/makeareport<\/a>, or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at <a href=\"https:\/\/crimestoppers-uk.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/crimestoppers-uk.org\/\">crimestoppers-uk.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A PSNI officer drew his gun after a driver failed to stop in Derry on Saturday afternoon. Police&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1042156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[188,16767,1144,1618,13136,16,15],"class_list":["post-1042155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-crime","tag-derry","tag-northern-ireland","tag-psni","tag-republic-of-ireland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116791964296733697","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1042155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1042155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1042156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1042155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1042155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1042155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}