Updated 8am

THERE HAS BEEN widespread condemnation of an incident in which police were fired upon in their car in Belfast yesterday evening.

The PSNI said it is treating the incident as attempted murder. Two officers were in the car on Rossnareen Avenue in Andersonstown at 6.50pm last night when it was shot at.

The car was hit, but the officers escaped unhurt.

UTV News quotes Belfast PSNI Commander Nigel Grimshaw as saying the attack was “mindless and reckless and an attempt to kill officers who were carrying out routine duties”.

“Thankfully it failed, the two officers were badly shaken but were not physically injured.”

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers described the attack as “shocking”, the BBC reports.

The people behind this despicable crime will rightly attract condemnation from right across the community.

Alex Maskey, Sinn Féin MLA also condemned those responsible for the shooting.

“This attack happened in the early evening in a busy area and could have killed or seriously injured anyone in the area at the time,” he said.

“Thankfully no one was injured but it was a frightening experience for people in the area.

“I spoke to people living nearby following this attack and they are rightly angry at what happened.”

Whoops!

We couldn't find this Tweet

The PSNI has begun an investigation into the incident.

First published 26/11/2015

Read: Man (40s) shot in the head in west Belfast>