Incident Summary:
06/07/2001: Two Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers and a woman were wounded and taken to hospital after a gunman attacked a polling station in Draperstown, County Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. The shooting took place at about 9.45 p.m., 15 minutes before voting in the North's Westminster and local government elections ended. The attack was blamed on dissident republicans, although it was not clear which paramilitary group was responsible.
Overview
GTD ID:
200106070001
When:
2001-06-07
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Western Europe
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Northern Ireland
City:
Draperstown
Location Details:
Londonderry (County)
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Elections and polling facilities and personnel |
Specific Description |
A polling station in Draperstown, Northern Ireland |
Nationality of Target |
Great Britain |
Target Type: Police |
Name of Entity |
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) |
Specific Description |
Policemen on duty at a polling station in Draperstown, Northern Ireland |
Nationality of Target |
Great Britain |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Dissident republicans are believed to have been responsible for the attack, but it was the first time that they injured members of the security forces in a gun attack. They had previously concentrated their efforts on bomb and mortar attacks. Suspicion had fallen on the "Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)", which had been active in the area, but security sources said that Continuity IRA involvement could not be ruled out. Security sources had warned of a "Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)" attack on the British mainland or in the North during the Westminster election campaign. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 3 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
3 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
John Murray Brown, “RUC men wounded in polling station shooting,” Financial Times, June 8, 2001. |
Suzanne Breen, “RUC officers and woman injured in gun attack,” The Irish Times, June 8, 2001. |
“2 Arrested for Poll Attack in Britain,” Xinhua General News Service, June 8, 2001. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties