The police officer killed in Northern Ireland last night was shot from behind as he got out of his car, investigators have revealed.

Constable Stephen Carroll, 48, who was married with children and grandchildren, was struck in the head by a single bullet that passed through his back window, after a gunman lying in wait on a grassy bank fired two shots at his stationary patrol car.

He was the third member of the security services in Ulster to be killed in as many days.

The Continuity IRA, a dissident republican group, today claimed responsibility, saying in a coded message that the shooting in Craigavon was carried out by its north Armagh battalion. "As long as there is British involvement in Ireland, these attacks will continue," it said.

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Pc Carroll lived at Bambridge in Co Down. He had been an police officer for 23 years and was only two years from retirement. His wife, Kate, is a college teacher.

"We have reports of a man in a light-coloured top seen running away from the scene after the incident," said Chief Superintendant Alan Todd. "Clearly we are very keen to identify that person."

He added that the gunman had left "colleagues without a workmate, a wife without a husband, a son without a father and grandchildren without a grandfather”.

Officers armed with search warrants today raided two houses on the nearby Drumbeg estate in Craigavon, said to be a republican stronghold, where Irish tricolour flags could be seen fluttering. Forensic specialists seized documents, clothing and other materials but no arrests were reported.

Pc Carroll was killed as he and a colleague got out of his unmarked silver Skoda car in response to a 999 call. A terrified woman reported that a gang had smashed a window at her privately owned house, in a quiet cul-de-sac backing onto open land.

Sir Hugh told a press conference that, mindful of the high security threat, the officers "stood off for a sensible period of time" to check for any signs they might be heading into a trap, before two carloads of police drove in to deal with the woman’s call.

Pc Carroll and a colleague were providing cover to the other unit when he was shot in the head, apparently at close range. The attack looked like "a deliberate set-up", said the chief constable.

"We will pursue those responsible to the ends of the Earth," Sir Hugh said today, after briefing the Northern Ireland First Minister.

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