Catholic killed on visit to Protestant boyfriend

A 27-year-old Catholic woman was killed by gunmen when she visited her Protestant boyfriend at his flat in north Belfast.

Although no one claimed responsibility for the attack, first indications are that Sharon McKenna, of Greencastle, was killed because she was an easy Catholic target in a Protestant area.

The RUC said the woman's boyfriend opened the door when two men arrived at his flat on the Shore Road. The woman apparently appeared at this point, just before 6pm, and was shot down. The gunmen had hijacked a car at Glasgow Street and later abandoned it at Seaview Drive, both of which are in Protestant districts.

The woman, the fifth person to be killed in Ulster this year, is said to have regularly visited her boyfriend on Sunday evenings.