Police came under attack while dealing with a security alert in the Creggan area The PSNI Chief Superintendent in Londonderry has said two children under the age of 10 were nearby when a military grenade was thrown at officers in the city.
It happened as police were dealing with a security alert in the Southway Road area of Creggan on Monday afternoon.
Chief Supt Stephen Martin said the “viable” device landed at one police officer’s feet.
He said it was “sheer good fortune” that no-one was hurt or killed.
“There were four officers in fairly close proximity to the attack,” he said.
“I have absolutely no doubt that the person who threw this believed it would detonate and if it had detonated I would be talking this morning about seriously injured or killed police officers and young children.”
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, police in Derry were dealing with a report that a suspicious object had been left in the Foyle Street area.
Several homes were evacuated in Monday’s alert and Army bomb experts were called to the scene to examine a suspicious object.
As it was being declared a hoax, a man threw a hand grenade at officers and escaped in the direction of Kildrum Gardens. The grenade did not explode.
Mr White said police officers had chased the culprit, but that he had escaped via an alleyway.
He said a further 30 homes were evacuated as a result of the attack for “several hours”.
The four officers who were standing close to where the grenade landed were neighbourhood policing team members.
“Everywhere I go as a district commander, people speak with one voice, they say ‘we like our neighbourhood policing teams, leave our neighbourhood policing teams alone, they are doing great work’,” Mr White added.
Last November, three police officers were hurt and one of them suffered serious arm injuries when a grenade was thrown by a cyclist at Shaw’s Road in west Belfast.
The dissident paramilitary group Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) said it was responsible for that attack.
Mr White said police would be looking at whether there were similarities between the grenade incidents in Belfast and Derry.
Sinn Fein MLA Martina Anderson described Monday’s attack as “futile” and said it would “achieve absolutely nothing”.
“Whatever group was behind this attack they need to reflect on the political realities of Ireland in 2011,” she said.
“They need to come forward and tell the people of Derry how this will advance the goal of achieving a united Ireland?”
SDLP MP for Foyle Mark Durkan described those responsible as “reckless”.
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