Police have confirmed that a gun found in County Derry last week was used to murder Lyra McKee.

The gun was uncovered alongside a “fully primed bomb” and ammunition during searches the Ballymagroarty area on Friday and Saturday.

This evening, the PSNI Major Investigation team confirmed the gun was the weapon used to kill the 26-year-old journalist as she covered riots in the Creggan area of Derry in April 2019.

PSNI Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy said forensic tests on the Hemmerli X-Esse pistol confirmed it as the murder weapon.

A gun uncovered during searches the Ballymagroarty area of Derry. Image: PSNI

“Since 18 April last year, we have been collectively focused on seeking to bring to justice those who were involved in Lyra’s murder,” he said.

“That collective effort has never been simply directed towards the person who pulled the trigger.

“I am as clear today as I have ever been that the bringing of that gun onto the streets involved a number of senior figures in the New IRA.

“Today’s confirmation is a significant step forward and opens up a new avenue of investigation for my team. We will be relentless in pursuing opportunities to bring to justice every person who was involved in the chain of events that led to the gunman indiscriminately firing four shots.”

Bullets uncovered during searches the Ballymagroarty area of Derry. Image: PSNI

Ms McKee was killed after shots were fired towards police during a riot in Creggan on April 18th.

The New IRA has admitted responsibility for the gunshot that killed her. It said it was targeting members of the PSNI.

Detective Superintendent Murphy said the shots put the lives of police officers “at significant risk of death or serious injury.”

“The presence of bystanders like Lyra, who were watching the unfolding events, was an inconvenience to the terrorists but the gunman clearly placed no importance on that,” he said.

“Any reasonable assessment must be that, for the New IRA, the community were, and continue to be, expendable collateral damage.

“Lyra’s murder was not an accident – it was an inevitable and entirely predictable result of terrorist violence.”

The coffin is carried into the funeral service of murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.

He said a “very detailed” forensic examination of the gun is continuing and scientists have been asked to scour it for any trace of DNA.

“The gun jammed as the gunman fired and I know from the video footage that the gunman tried several times to eject the jammed rounds,” he said.

“For that reason, I have asked scientists to extend their forensic examination beyond the outside of the gun and forensically examine the inside mechanisms of it, to establish whether the gunman, in his haste to clear the blockage, may have left forensic traces inside the gun.

“We are using the most advanced DNA technology available and we will exhaust every opportunity to recover forensic evidence.”

The area in Ballymagroarty, County Derry near where police uncovered a gun, ammunition and a fully prime bomb, 06-06-2020. Image: PSNI

Detective Superintendent Murphy said anyone who “who fired the gun, transported it, moved it, stored it, carried it, hid it or interacted with it in any way” should now expect a knock at their door from the police.

“One positive forensic result, coupled with the extensive evidence we have already gathered, will have significant consequences for the New IRA,” he said.

“That result might not come today, it might not come tomorrow, but we have been patient for 15 months so time is on our side.

“Our collective efforts have lost no energy or focus. I know who was involved. I know who the gunman is. I have asked the scientists to find me the evidence that will enable me to complete the jigsaw of the events of April 18th that I have been building for Lyra’s family since the night she was murdered.”

He said the McKee family have again appealed to the public to come forward with any information regarding Lyra’s murder.