Police say shots fired at officers in Northern Ireland

Police in Northern Ireland says shots have been fired in the city of Londonderry in a "blatant bid to murder police officers."

The Police Service of Northern Ireland says six shots were fired at officers overnight during a fourth night of disturbances in Northern Ireland's second-largest city, also known as Derry. No officers were injured.

Chief Inspector Neil Beck said today that "around 16 petrol bombs and five paint bombs were thrown" from a largely Catholic area toward a Protestant neighborhood, "and, in what can only be described as a blatant bid to murder police officers, shots were fired at police close to our city's walls."

Authorities accused dissident Irish republican groups opposed to Northern Ireland's peace process of fueling the violence.