Inquiries over Lucan shooting

Officials from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) are continuing to carry out door-to-door inquiries today over a…

Officials from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) are continuing to carry out door-to-door inquiries today over a foiled armed robbery in which a man was shot dead yesterday by undercover gardaí.

Gareth Molloy (28) was shot down and another man wounded as five men attempted a midday heist outside a shop in Lucan, west Dublin.

Gardaí moved in as the men, including at least one armed with a sawn-off shotgun, targeted a cash-in-transit crew delivering money to an ATM in the busy Centra store in Foxborough Road.

Four men later arrested in connection with the raid were taken to Garda stations in Lucan and Ronanstown for questioning under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

READ MORE

Garda Ombudsman investigators examined the robbery scene yesterday and are examining three cars used by the gang. The commission’s staff also attended the postmortem on Molloy’s body last night that was carried out by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy.

A Garda spokesman said members of the force would co-operate fully with the GSOC inquiry.

An incident room has also been set up at the Garda Ombudsman’s offices in Abbey Street in central Dublin.

Senior Garda officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation are leading a criminal investigation under Assistant Commissioner Derek Byrne.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has been briefed on the incident by Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy. Mr Ahern said that while any loss of life was regrettable, the Garda had the full support of the public in confronting armed gangs.

One of the men shot was carrying a sawn-off shotgun, which he had discharged seconds before he was shot by gardaí. The men who were shot are from Dublin’s north inner city. Four others were under arrest last night. The gang tried to rob a G4S cash-in-transit van delivering money to an ATM in a Centra shop in Lucan, Co Dublin, at noon.