Investigators from the Garda Ombudsman's Commission have begun a forensic examination of a pub in Cork where armed gardaí shot and wounded a gunman yesterday evening.
It is understood that investigators from the Garda Ombudsman's Commission are also to examine CCTV footage from the pub which is understood to show the shooting.
The incident happened at about 6.40pm when the, man who is in his 20s, entered the Mo Chuisle Bar on Blarney Street, armed with a shotgun and began threatening staff and demanding to see the owner.
Gardaí were alerted and armed officers from the Regional Support Unit responded and entered the pub where it is understood that they challenged the man and ordered him to drop his weapon.
It is understood that the man continued brandishing the shotgun and a member of the Regional Support Unit discharged one shot from, wounding the man in the stomach.
The man was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and his condition was this morning described as "stable".
According to one Garda source the single shot fired by the member of the response unit was discharged in accordance with guidelines when the man presented as a legitimate target after failing to drop his weapon.
Gardaí have asked witnesses or anyone with information on the incident to contact the Garda in Gurranabraher on 021-4946209.
Last night’s incident is the second in which shots were fired at the pub. On October 5th, 2008 a man armed with a sawn-off shotgun fired a shot into the bar which was full of customers.
No one was injured and the gunman made his getaway on his motorbike and despite an extensive Garda investigation, no one was ever apprehended for the shooting which gardaí believed was linked to the death of a local man, Anthony “Farmer” Hennessy who died after being ejected from the pub.
Hennessy (41), of Chapel Field, Gurranebraher, Cork, collapsed and died outside Mo Chuisle pub in March 2008 and last year an inquest heard that he died from compression of the neck with acute alcohol consumption as a contributory factor.
It is understood that the man shot last night is a relation of Hennessy and that there had been an earlier incident on Thursday night when another relative of the dead man was arrested by gardaí after he went to the bar and began throwing bottles and glasses at staff.
Last November, the owner of the pub, Niall Burns, who is in his late 40s and from Glen Springs, Blackstone Bridge, Cork, was acquitted of a charge of endangerment in relation to Mr Hennessy’s death by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr Burns had been accused of endangerment on March 13th and 14th, 2008 at Blarney Street, Cork, where it was alleged that he had intentionally or recklessly engaged in the forceful restraint of Anthony Hennessy, which created a substantial risk of death or serious injury.
However, following over three hours of deliberation, the jury of four men and eight women found him not guilty by a unanimous decision prompting an angry response from some relatives and friends of the dead man.