Armed raiders escaped with €420,000 in a meticulously planned hold-up at a busy shopping centre in Dublin yesterday morning.
In full view of shoppers, three masked men, carrying a sawn-off shotgun and a pistol, intercepted a security van delivering cash to an ATM at the Omnipark centre in Santry, on Dublin's northside shortly after 9 a.m.
Two Garda units, which were at the Omnipark on separate business, rushed to the scene but the raiders sped away in a Volvo.
They did not fire any shots and no injuries were reported, although two security guards received treatment for shock.
Dozens of eyewitnesses jammed Garda phonelines with distress calls as the robbery unfolded.
It was the second hold-up of a Securicor van dropping off cash to a bank machine in a month, prompting fears that the same gang may be involved.
Senior officers are investigating the possibility the incident is linked to the robbery of €180,000 from a Securicor van making a drop-off to an ATM machine in St James's Hospital last month, during which a security guard was struck.
In both cases, gardaí suspect the perpetrators had been keeping their targets under close surveillance for several weeks.
