
A fourth person has died after a shooting in County Fermanagh in which a mother and two children were killed.
Ian Rutledge, 43, died in hospital on Monday evening after the incident in Maguiresbridge last Wednesday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland(PSNI) said. Vanessa Whyte, 45, a vet originally from County Clare, her son James, 14, and daughter Sara, 13, were also killed.
A murder investigation was launched last week, with police saying a triple murder and attempted suicide was one line of inquiry. All four suffered gunshot wounds.
“Detectives have reiterated their appeal for anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward,” a police spokesperson said.
The shooting stunned the rural community, prompting tributes. “We are heartbroken. May they rest in peace,” said a note left with flowers at the scene.
A prayer service for Whyte and her children took place in Barefield, Co Clare, followed by a community vigil in Maguiresbridge on Friday.
During the service, parish priest Tom Fitzpatrick said: “The unspeakable tragedy that has befallen our parish is something that is very hard to focus in on and get our minds around.
“What affects an individual or affects a particular family in the parish, it affects everybody,” he added. “I know Vanessa was a woman who gave, and who gave, and who gave, and James and Sara were light made flesh themselves.”
He said: “Let us remember Vanessa not just by the way she died, but by the life she lived, her smile, her strength, her incredible powerful love for her children. She gave it her all to the very end.”
“We remember James and Sara, not just as victims of violence, but as children who played and who laughed and had their favourite stories, of course favourite foods I’m sure as well, and great dreams. Dreams that will never be fulfilled, but dreams that mattered because they were theirs.”
A funeral service is expected to take place in Co Clare later this week.
Whyte reportedly moved to Fermanagh several years ago and was employed by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Enniskillen.
Colleagues and friends said she was popular, down-to-earth and devoted to her children. Enniskillen Royal grammar school said it was mourning “the loss of two vibrant and much valued pupils”.
The ambulance service said it had received a call at 8.21am on Wednesday and dispatched emergency crews to the scene, where Whyte and one child were pronounced dead.
Rutledge was airlifted to the Royal Victoria hospital in Belfast, while the second child was taken to a hospital in Enniskillen, where they were pronounced dead.
Pat Cullen, the Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, said people were mourning valued members of the community. “Two wee children have lost their lives and a mummy, when they just should be enjoying the school holidays and having a wonderful time,” she told the BBC.
A tribute to Whyte and her children was displayed at the All-Ireland final in Croke Park in Dublin on Sunday.
