THE shooting of a man in North Belfast on Wednesday night is being treated as attempted murder.

Shortly after 10.15pm, it was reported that four masked men entered a property in the Antrim Road area and shot the male occupant in the back and in the legs. Police attended the scene along the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. 

The victim, who is aged in his 40s, was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries. He remains in a stable condition at this time.

A second man who was also in the property at the time was uninjured.

Sinn Féin MLA Carál Ní Chuilín condemned the shooting.

“This reckless attack has caused disruption for residents tonight and left people living in the nearby flats traumatised," said the North Belfast MLA. “Anyone with information on this attack should bring it forward to the PSNI.”

SDLP councillor Carl Whyte said it was a "despicable attack".

"Nobody should have their lives disrupted in this way and those behind this attack cannot be allowed to cause fear or cast a shadow over this area. 

“I would urge anyone with any information about what happened here to come forward to police as soon as possible so that this dangerous weapon can be taken out of circulation before anyone else is harmed and so that the criminals who carried out this shooting can be apprehended.” 

Police say they are treating the incident as attempted murder and appealed for anyone with information to get in touch with officers.