OMAGH, Northern Ireland, April 2 (UPI) -- A young Catholic officer who joined the Police Service of Northern Ireland last year was killed by a booby trap bomb Saturday as he left for work.
Ronan Kerr, 25, died outside his home in Omagh, the BBC reported. The bombing was believed to be the work of one of the splinter Republican groups that have refused to join the peace process.
Kerr joined the police service in May and graduated from training college in December, the Belfast Telegraph reported. Like many other young Catholic officers, he joined under a half-and-half recruitment policy, recently dropped, that aimed to make the police force more balanced.
He was assigned to the police station in Enniskillen.
Omagh was the site of one of the bloodiest sectarian attacks in the history of Northern Ireland in 1998. A Real IRA bombing killed 29 people and wounded scores more.
Politicians from all major parties condemned Saturday's killing. Gerry Adams, head of the Republican Sinn Fein, said the party will not let splinter groups "set back the progress of peace."
"The people responsible for the attack have one aim and one aim alone -- to take Northern Ireland back to the dark days of the past. All of us have a duty to ensure they do not succeed," said Tom Elliott, head of the Ulster Unionist Party.
