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.