Ballymoney: Three injured in 'terrifying' attack
- Published
Three people were injured in the attack in Ballymoney and a car was damaged outside the house
A woman and two men have been attacked by a gang armed with a crowbar, sledgehammers and baseball bats at a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim.
Five masked men entered the house at Meadow View area shortly after 20:30 GMT on Monday, police have said.
The three people in the house sustained serious injuries during the assault and each of them needed hospital treatment.
"Substantial damage" was caused to the inside of the house and a vehicle parked outside, officers added.
"This was a terrifying experience for the occupants of the property who all required medical treatment for their injuries," said Det Insp MacCionáoith from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
"Our investigation is now underway to establish what happened, who was involved and a motive."
Police officers cordoned off the crime scene on Monday night
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) said it was called to the scene at 20:36 GMT on Monday.
A local councillor for the area, Darryl Wilson, said a significant search operation was under way.
"It is my understanding that the PSNI are carrying out door to door enquiries at present as well as the significant search operation which is ongoing," he said in a post on Facebook.
Allow Facebook content?
This article contains content provided by Facebook. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Facebook cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Councillor Mervyn Storey from the Democratic Unionist Party told BBC News NI the assault "has caused a lot of disquiet and disruption in the Meadow View estate".
"Whatever reason people had for carrying out this attack, there can be absolutely no justification for it," Mr Storey added.