Shot youth is 'lucky to be alive'

A 16-year-old boy who was shot in both legs in a house in Coleraine is lucky to be alive, the PSNI have said.

Two masked and armed men forced their way into a house in the Crescent area of the town at about 2230 BST on Thursday and shot him in the legs.

The teenager is in a serious but stable condition in hospital in Belfast.

PSNI Inspector Una Duffin said the 16-year-old was attacked in front of his girlfriend in a "vicious and violent manner".

"This young man is a boy in the eyes of the law, and being subjected to this in a family home in a residential area in Coleraine is traumatic for the entire community.

"The young boy's family have had a very angry and strong reaction to what has happened, and they have all been traumatised by it," she said.