Updated: 8.30pm
AN ARMED MAN has been arrested by gardaí in Dublin this afternoon, after a manhunt that lasted over 7 hours following a spate of carjackings.
He was apprehended at Citywest Shopping Centre, near Saggart in west Dublin, shortly after 2pm. A firearm was recovered at the scene.
Footage being shared on social media shows armed gardaí running into the shopping centre before arresting the man.
The man – in his 30s – is currently being detained at Tallaght Garda Station.
A Tallaght resident was earlier terrorised in his own home when the man, armed with an automatic weapon turned up on his doorstep – and broke down his door.
The attacker is believed to have stolen two other cars in the Tallaght area of Dublin early this morning.
TheJournal.ie understands that the householder went to answer a knock on his door in a housing estate in Tallaght at around 6.50am today. A man with a machine gun was standing outside.
According to a source with knowledge of the event, the householder ran to get his mobile phone – but the armed man broke the glass in his porch before breaking down the front door and demanding the keys to a car parked in front of the house.
“He was standing at the door with a machine gun,” the source said.
The attacker, said to have been in an agitated state, chased the householder into his hallway, and is believed to have struck him at least twice with the butt of the firearm before taking the car keys and leaving the scene.
The resident received medical attention at the scene.
Members of the public were urged not to approach the man.
He’s believed to have headed for the Clondalkin area, initially, before making his way to Citywest.
The incident was the third car robbery believed to have been carried out by the same man early this morning. It’s believed the series of events may have begun as a domestic row.
A car was stolen from a house in the Brookview estate in south-west Tallaght shortly after 6am.
It’s understood the second car was taken at an estate off Russell Walk shortly afterwards. Locals reported seeing a car speeding from the scene at around 6.30am this morning.
The incident in which the householder was attacked – which happened at an estate near the centre of Tallaght, around ten minute’s drive from the earlier events – took place at 6.50am.
The first two cars have since been recovered.
The Garda helicopter responded to the developing incident early this morning and was seen patrolling the area again throughout the day. Garda armed support vehicles also patrolled the Brookview and central Tallaght areas.
Gardaí were also seen carrying out searches at the South Dublin County Council offices near The Square early this morning.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Charlie O’Connor told TheJournal.ie he was “concerned about the incident from a public safety point of view”.
Following the arrest, gardaí appealed for witnesses to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01 6666000, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
- With reporting by Órla Ryan, Michelle Hennessy and Susan Daly
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