Gargagh shooting: Girl offers gunmen piggy bank to save dad

A gang of masked men shot at a young man who had lost money.

The man has "potentially life-changing injuries" as a result of the overnight attack in Garvagh, County Londonderry.

He was shot in the arms and legs with a baton and a metal bar in a house in Kurin Lane in what the police said was a paramilitary-style attack.

The gang also chases the girl and tries to set fire to items in the house.

'Petrified'

Police said the man is being treated for gunshot wounds and head injuries and severely traumatized.

The teenager's phone was stolen to prevent her calling for help.

She was upstairs when the gang broke into the property shortly before 22:30 BST on Saturday.

The intruders chased the girl in the house and threatened her when she hid them, according to the PSNI Limavady Facebook page.

"She came out petrified with her Piggy Bank, HER PIGGY BANK!" Hoping that the men would take it and leave her alone, "one outraged officer wrote.

"Instead they stole her face and shot her dad.

"It makes me feel sick and enraged to my core," the PSNI post added.

'Brutality'

In a statement, Det Ch Insp White said: "This sickeningly vicious shooting and beating

"What is going to be in the world of violence and brutality?"

"Every child has the right to feel safe and protected in their own home – how is this poor child going to sleep tonight or coming in … What are the long term effects on her going to be?

"It's quite obvious that the hypocrites who carried this dreadful attack do not care about their children in their community." I wonder how they would feel if their own child witnessed such a level of violence?

"There is absolutely no justification for an attack on our communities.

Earlier this month, PSNI launched on hard-hitting.

At such point they said there had been 87 such attacks over the past year.