Detectives investigating the attempted murder of an off-duty policeman in a shooting in Derry two weeks ago are appealing for information on car stolen in Dublin last March.
They believe this vehicle, a BMW 5 series registration 99-MO-1277, was the getaway car used by the gunmen.
The 43-year-old officer had just dropped his son off at school in Bishop Street when he was shot. He is now recovering from his injuries.
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Real IRA.
PSNI detectives made an appeal for information on RTÉ's Crimecall last night.
The PSNI says it asked Crimecall to highlight the case because the getaway car had been stolen in Dublin last March.
It was found burnt out in the Creggan area of the city a short time after the shooting
The officer in charge of the investigation, PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Frankie Taylor, said the car had been parked in North Great George's Street in Dublin city centre on 2 March.
It was spotted at Kesh in Co Fermanagh three weeks later but then disappeared until it turned up in Derry a fortnight ago. By then, police say it had a 'ringed' number, R184 GGP, which is an English registration plate linked to a similar car in Surrey.
'We want to hear from anyone who knows anything about this car - who stole it, who they sold it to, where it's been for the past eight months and how it ended up in Derry. We would also like to hear from anyone who made up the English plates,' he said.
'Any piece of information, no matter how small, would be helpful to our investigation, which is not about the theft of a car but about the attempted murder of a man who was leaving his son to school.'
'As this is an appeal with a specific Dublin connection, we thought it would be appropriate to work with the RTÉ Crimecall programme to maximise our chances of getting assistance from the public,' Mr Taylor added.
Anyone with information should call PSNI detectives at the incident room at Strand Road police station in Derry on 048-9065 0222.
