George Nkencho was still “swinging wildly” with a knife at armed gardaí as he was being shot, an inquest has heard.
A sergeant said that a few minutes beforehand he had tried to engage “softly” with Mr Nkencho, but he lunged at him with a knife and left him “in no doubt” that he would “stab and kill me” if he got too close.
Two sisters of George Nkencho also addressed the inquest on Tuesday and described seeing their brother lying outside the front of their home after being tasered.
Gloria Nkencho said she opened the front door of the house and told gardaí he was her brother and he had mental health difficulties.
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Mr Nkencho (27) died outside his home in West Dublin in December 2020 after being shot multiple times by the Garda armed support unit (ASU).
An inquest into Mr Nkencho’s death began last week at Dublin District Coroner’s Court.
It has heard from shop workers and customers who described seeing Mr Nkencho punch an assistant manager at a Eurospar in Hartstown, and from members of the public who said they saw him holding a knife.
On Tuesday, Sgt Peter Nestor and Garda Shane Gallagher described responding to the incident in the shop.
Sgt Nestor said he headed out in a Garda car, saw Mr Nkencho’s hand was in his pocket, and was satisfied he had a knife based on information and his experience.
He said he put a baton to Mr Nkencho’s shoulder, engaged with him “softly” and asked him to put down the knife.
He said Mr Nkencho pulled the knife out of his pocket and did not comply with directions to drop it. He described him as “very angry” and “very aggressive”.
[He] lunged towards me with a knife,” he said in his deposition.
“I was in no doubt at this time that if I got any closer to this male, that he would stab and kill me.”
He said he did not remember hearing over the Tetra radio that Mr Nkencho had mental health issues.
He said as they arrived at Manorfields Drive, he did not know it was Mr Nkencho’s home.
He said the ASU had just arrived.
They asked Mr Nkencho to “stop” and “drop the knife”, and a short time later said “taser, taser”.
He said Mr Nkencho was “swinging wildly at them” and even after being tasered, Mr Nkencho got up and continued “swinging very wildly”.
He said he heard someone say “spray, spray, spray”, which indicates pepper spray, but he did not see it being deployed.
He said Mr Nkencho continued to swing and then he heard shots fired.
“A number of shots fired, pauses in between each one. He’s still swinging wildly at them [and] didn’t fall at all, not until the last one,” he told the inquest.
Garda Shane Gallagher said he was “terrified” and “in fear” for his own safety and the safety of members of the public when he saw the knife in Mr Nkencho’s hand.
“He then started pacing toward me, and I was in no doubt that his intention was to try and stab me,” he said in his deposition.
He said he cannot remember which ASU member used the taser, and that orders from the ASU to Mr Nkencho to drop the knife were “continuous”.
Mr Nkencho’s sisters Grateful and Gloria also described to the inquest efforts to tell gardaí that their brother had mental health difficulties.
Grateful said her sister Gloria said “very loud” to gardaí that this was her brother and he had an illness.
“She kept saying ‘This is my brother, he’s sick, he has mental health issues’, but even as she was saying that, she was brushed away. Like, nobody really paid attention to what she was saying.”
The inquest is due to continue before a jury on Wednesday. – PA
