Garda who fired fatal shot says he aimed for central body mass

The Emergency Response Unit officer who killed Mr John Carthy outside his home in Abbeylara in April 2000 has said he did not consider shooting at Mr Carthy's limbs.

Det Sgt Aidan McCabe said he shot Mr Carthy (27) in the central body mass because he was trained to do so and he believed him to be an "immediate threat to life".

Sgt McCabe was on the road with two ERU colleagues when Mr Carthy left his house carrying a shotgun. Mr Carthy was walking up the road in the direction of armed and unarmed gardaí when Sgt Michael Jackson, the ERU negotiator, discharged shots at him. Sgt Jackson hit Mr Carthy twice in the leg before Sgt McCabe opened fire.

Sgt McCabe fired two shots into Mr Carthy's torso, the second of which killed him, the tribunal has heard.

At the time of the incident, Sgt McCabe did not know whether his colleague had intended to shoot Mr Carthy in the legs, or whether he had been aiming for the central body mass, he told the tribunal. Sgt McCabe decided to shoot when it appeared that the other officer's shots produced "no reaction" in Mr Carthy.

Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Michael McGrath, asked if he had considered shooting at Mr Carthy's limbs as his colleague had done.

"I didn't consider it. At that time he had already been shot twice and I had seen one of the shots hit him in the leg and that hadn't stopped John Carthy. I felt I had no choice than to fire at the central body mass."

Sgt McCabe said he did not think he should have left more time in between his two shots and felt the final shot was necessary to end the immediate threat to life presented by Mr Carthy.

"After the first shot I fired, he still walked forward. It hadn't had the effect I had hoped for and I actually believed I had missed."

The risk of crossfire from the armed local gardaí who were on the road facing Mr Carthy did not influence his decision to shoot, Sgt McCabe said.

"I discharged my firearm because of the actions of John Carthy and the immediate threat to life posed by John Carthy." Mr Carthy had pointed his firearm at officers, he said. "I believed he was about to pull the trigger and kill someone."

However, he did not think that he himself was at risk of crossfire. "My decision was in no way precipitated by or influenced by the potential danger or risk of crossfire to myself or other ERU members."