Suspect in Maguiresbridge triple murder dies

Vanessa Whyte and her daughter Sara and son James were fatally shot at a house in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday

The man who was suspected of murdering his family in County Fermanagh has died in hospital.

Vanessa Whyte and her children, 14-year-old James Rutledge and 13-year-old Sara Rutledge, were shot and killed in their home in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday.

Police said Ian Rutledge, 43, was taken to hospital on Wednesday, where he remained in a serious condition until his death this evening.

Last week police said a suspected triple murder and attempted suicide was one line of inquiry for detectives.

• Prayer service held in County Clare for mother and children

• School to remember murdered brother and sister 'for years to come'

• Childminder said she loved murdered children 'like they were her own'

• Shooting victim was 'devoted mum to Sara and James'

Two of the victims were declared dead at the scene in a house on the Drummeer Road on Wednesday morning and a third victim died later that day in hospital.

Hours after the attack, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) told a news conference a man from the same household was in hospital with gunshot wounds.

Ian Rutledge died in hospital on Monday evening

The PSNI's district commander said that no arrests had been made and at that stage it was not anticipated that any would be made.

On Monday, detectives investigating the shooting reiterated their appeal for "anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward".

On Saturday, they issued an appeal over the movements of a silver Mercedes between Maguiresbridge and Newtownbutler on the day before the shootings.

Tributes to murder victims

Tributes were left on the Drumeer Road in County Fermanagh near the scene of the shooting

Sara and James were both students at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School and were former pupils of Maguiresbridge Primary School in their home village.

Crowds of mourners attended a vigil for the family in the primary school's grounds on Friday.

Several senior politicians were present as religious representatives addressed the vigil, and a minute's silence was held as a mark of respect for the victims.

The victims were prayed for in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in County Clare on Sunday

The children's mother was originally from Barefield, County Clare, in the Republic of Ireland.

A prayer service took place on Sunday evening at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the village.

During the service, the parish priest in Barefield, Fr Tom Fitzpatrick, told mourners:

"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," he added.

"Dreams that will never be fulfilled, but dreams that mattered because they were theirs."

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