Fight to save eye of worker shot during robbery

SURGEONS were battling yesterday to save an eye of a filling station employee who was shot during a botched armed robbery.

Gardaí said the injuries could have been worse and that the 26-year-old foreign national could have been killed.

The employee was working the overnight shift at a Statoil filling station on the North Road in Finglas, north Dublin, when he was threatened by at least three men about 2.30am.

Gardaí said the men approached the hatch and demanded money from the attendant, who is an English national of Pakistani origin.

“He just stood there in shock,” said a garda source. “They got a gun and fired a shot through the glass, hitting him on the side of the head.”

The incident was caught on CCTV and the whole thing happened very quickly, said officers.

“It happened in a couple of seconds. It was blatant what they were doing,” said the source.

The raiders failed to get any money and fled on foot, although gardaí are investigating whether they had a car nearby.

Detectives yesterday said that while the injury to the employee’s eye was serious, they could have been investigating a homicide.

“He was a lucky man. It could have been a lot worse. We could be looking at a fatality,” said one detective.

Officers are studying the CCTV footage and are hopeful of narrowing their lines of inquiry as to the possible perpetrators.

But gardaí said the raiders were well covered, making it hard to identify them.

They issued a description of the gunman.

He is in his late 20s and of medium height.

He was wearing white Nike runners with a blue Nike logo and black gloves. He wore a black ski mask over his face.

Anyone with information is asked to telephone Finglas Garda Station at 01 6667500 or the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666111.

Meanwhile, gardaí are investigating an aggravated burglary in Glasnevin, north Dublin, on Thursday.

Three men, carrying two handguns, entered a Bargaintown premises on Slaney Road, where they confronted a staff member.

They tied him up and one of the raiders hit him across the head with a piece of wood. The raiders took what was described as a small quantity of cash and left the premises.

Gardaí are investigating if the two raids are linked.