BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A bombing wounded three policemen investigating a robbery in Belfast, police said.
Friday night's West Belfast bomb attack "could have ended in a mass murder investigation," Alan Todd, head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, told the BBC Saturday.
The officers were wounded when an explosive was thrown at them as they examined a reported robbery scene at a bookmakers on the Shaw's Road. One of them is hospitalized with serious arm injuries and is expected to have surgery Saturday.
Todd said the robbery was reported around 8 p.m. and police were called to the scene.
"At about 9 p.m., a young man on a bicycle rode past police and threw an as-yet-unknown explosive device at the officers," said Todd.
The device, possibly a pipe bomb, exploded on the sidewalk and narrowly missed injuring civilians.
"What is clear is the people responsible have complete disregard for the community in that area," Todd said. "We are very lucky in the circumstances. Here was an attempt to murder police officers."
