Man Shot Dead At Irish Traveller Wedding

A man in his sixties has died after he and another man were gunned down at a village wedding in Co Fermanagh.

It is understood the wedding was between two members of the travelling community and the shooting began as the bride prepared to walk up the aisle at St Mary's Church in Newtownbutler.

One man was reportedly shot in the chest, the other in the leg, while another man had a knife injury to his hand.

One of the victims was flown by helicopter to the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen but died from his injuries, the Fermanagh Herald reported.

The wedding went ahead despite the shooting.

Father Michael King was preparing to conduct the ceremony when the shooting happened outside.

He said: "The bride was standing at the back of the church waiting to come up the aisle and the next thing there was a bit of commotion at the back of the church - several women ran in and said 'there are shots, there are shots, there is somebody shooting'."

The priest said there had also been a disturbance before the wedding.

"There was an altercation in the car park long before the bride came - they were thumping and kicking each other," he said.

The families asked for the wedding to go on despite the shooting.

"They said 'father we would like you to proceed with the wedding', so I proceeded with the wedding," said Fr King.

"They spent at least half an hour inside the church at the end taking photographs."

Chief Inspector Michael Harvey, from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: "The victim was shot along with another man outside a chapel on Main Street in Newtownbutler at around 1pm this afternoon.

"The other man, who is in his thirties, is not believed to have sustained any life threatening injuries."

Councillor Thomas O'Reilly said people in the village - which only has a population of around 1,000 - were stunned by the violence.

"In a very small rural area and village such as Newtownbutler, it is shocking that something like this would happen."