Massive hunt as sniper fires at gardaí

A HUGE Garda operation was mounted in the Southill Estate in Limerick yesterday following Sunday’s sniper attack on two detectives while they patrolled the estate. One bullet hit their unmarked car when a gunman opened fire from a concealed position.

Superintendent Frank O’Brien said yesterday that they had acquired more than 40 search warrants for the search operation, which went on for more than eight hours. One man was arrested and gardaí discovered a number of handguns and a quantity of drugs.

It was the biggest operation of its kind ever mounted in the troubled estate, which has more than 1,000 houses.

More than 50 uniformed gardaí were backed up by armed detectives and the Garda dog unit. The Garda helicopter also assisted in the widespread operation.

Over the past two months, a spiralling feud involving two drug families has led to more than 15 shooting incidents in which two people were injured by gunfire.

Supt O’Brien said: “We are very concerned about the level of violence which we have witnessed in recent weeks, and today’s operation has been very successful.”

The two families are involved in supplying drugs to the Southill area. One family is based in the estate and the other is located in a halting site adjacent to O’Malley Park.

One of the families was involved in a highly publicised feud last year in which they declared a truce with another group. Last Sunday’s attack of the armed Garda patrol was the first incident of its kind in the southside of Limerick.

Two years ago, gardaí were shot at when they went to investigate a traffic incident in Moyross, on the northside of Limerick city.