Man shot ‘by appointment’ in west Belfast, PSNI says

The PSNI has condemned what it characterised as a "shooting by appointment" paramilitary attack of a man in his 30s in west Belfast on Tuesday night.

Detective Sergeant Eric Fairfield appealed for anyone with information about the suspected "punishment" shooting to bring it forward to the police.

He explained that at about 10.30pm on Tuesday police received a report from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service that a man had been shot in the leg in the Hazelwood Avenue area of west Belfast.

“We believe at this time that the shooting was by appointment and that the man had been ordered to attend this location to be shot,” he said.

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“This is totally barbaric and must stop. No-one deserves to have this happen to them and there is absolutely no justification for an attack like this in our communities.

“We must all work together to bring those responsible to justice and to stop this from happening to anyone else,” he added.

The detective described enquiries as being “at an early stage”.

“However, we are treating this as a paramilitary-style attack and I want to appeal to anyone who has information which may assist our investigation to pick up the phone and tell us what you know,” he said.

The injured man was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries.