'˜My life's wrecked' says Cookstown '˜murder attempt' victim

The 45-year-old resident was asleep in the living room when a shot was fired through this window. Police are treating the attack as 'attempted murder'

Speaking to the Mail from his Tullyveagh Road home, the 45-year-old man said he was asleep on the couch in his front room when a shot through the window showered him with glass at around 2.45am.

Describing the events of that night he said: “I was just lying sleeping on the couch, and I heard this bang. Glass came in around me, like powder all over the place.

“They took off. I didn’t hear a car taking off now. They had to come and shoot from over the hedge... they were in the road,” he continued.

Shots were fired through the window and door of a home on Tullyveagh Road, Cookstown on Tuesday morning

“They shot over here at that corner of the window. If anybody had have been sitting in that seat they could have been badly hurt or I could have been killed.”

In the aftermath of the attack, he said he now needs to find a new home.

“My nerves is away with it,” he explained.

“It’s put me in a awkward position this shooting. I have to move out of here now. I have to leave and it’s been my home this four years.

“I’m not well, I have to start looking for a place. In the night I hear voices and it’s all coming back to me.

“My life’s wrecked.”

Asked if his life had been threatened in the run up to the attack or if he knew why he was targeted, he said: “There were no threats, but a few things went missing out of my shed... blowers, strimmers, chainsaws. £2,000 worth of stuff.”

Police in Cookstown are appealing for anyone with information about the attack on May 17 to call them on the 101 number.

Detective Constable Paula McGale said: “I would appeal to anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity in the Tullyveagh Road area at the time, or who may have information about the incident to contact detectives (or) Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”