Lyra McKee, an acclaimed journalist from Belfast who recently signed a two book deal with publishers Faber & Faber, was shot and killed during a riot in Derry, Northern Ireland on April 18th.
Lyra first came to public prominence in 2014 when she published a blog titled 'Letter to my 14-year-old self', in which she spoke about the challenges that she faced growing up gay in Ireland. The post became so popular that it was made into a short film.
She continued to work as a journalist, producing articles in publications such as Private Eye, Buzzfeed, and The Belfast Telegraph. One of her most famous articles, titled 'Suicide of the Ceasefire Babies' was published in a number of noteworthy publications, including The Atlantic, and The Independent.
Covering The Troubles and their consequences in great detail, Lyra was in Derry to report on the riots that had broken out when she was shot and killed.
'Lyra McKee was murdered during orchestrated violence in Creggan last night.' Mark Hamilton, Assistant Chief Constable for District Policing, said the morning after the event. 'A single gunman fired shots in a residential area of the city and as a result wounded Ms McKee. Officers quickly administered first aid before transporting her in the back of a landrover to hospital.
'Tragically, she died from her injuries. At this stage we believe her murder was carried out by a violent dissident republican. Our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of Ms McKee, who was a journalist in Belfast.'
Two men, aged 18 and 19, were arrested in connection with the murder under the Terrorism Act, and are being held by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's major investigation team. They have been taken to a police station in Belfast for questioning.
Detective Superintendant Jason Murphy warned the public that 'What we are seeing is a new brand of terrorist coming through the ranks and that for me is a very worrying situation.
'We identified a palpable change in community sentiment, particularly the community sentiment towards policing. I think yesterday we realised that a vast majority of communities across Northern Ireland support police and support policing and they support the peace process. What we saw yesterday was a visible demonstration of that within the Creggan community, a community that has been very frightened for a long time and for a large part is being held to ransom by terrorist organisations that claim to represent them.'
Thousands gathered in the Fanad Drive area of Creggan on April 19th to hold a vigil for Lyra. Her partner, Sara Canning spoke about Lyra, and her role as both an activist and advocate.
'Our hopes and dreams, her amazing potential was snuffed out by a single barbaric act. This cannot stand. Lyra's death must not be in vain because her life was a shining light in everyone else's life. Her legacy will live on in the light that she's left behind.'
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