Four held over foiled robbery
The men, all of whom were arrested nearby after officers from the organised crime unit and national surveillance unit prevented the attempted heist, have been questioned at the Lucan and Ronanstown garda stations under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939 since Friday afternoon.
Three were arrested after fleeing the scene in a car, while another individual was arrested when a taxi he was driving collided with a roundabout as he left the surrounding area.
Under the act, the four men aged between 22 and 24 can be held for up to 72 hours and, having had their period of detention extended for the second day in a row yesterday, officers have until lunchtime today to continue to interrogate them over the incident.
The arrests occurred after a deadly shoot-out on Friday when a G4S cash-in-transit van delivering a large quantity of money to the ATM machine at the Centra store on Foxborough Road in Lucan was attacked by two individuals, one of whom threatened the driver with a sawn-off shotgun and ordered the money to be handed over.
During the ensuing moments, officers who had been tracking the criminal gang – who are suspected to be linked to individuals involved in the €7.6m Bank of Ireland heist earlier this year – ordered the holder of the weapon, 27-year-old Gareth Molloy, to disarm.
Witnesses have confirmed that Mr Molloy pointed the gun at the specialist gardaí, one of whom felt he had no option but to shoot him in the chest and arm.
While the second member of the gang who had approached the cash-in-transit van with Mr Molloy was not carrying a weapon, it is understood he was also shot after reaching for the sawn-off shotgun.
Mr Molloy died later at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown while the second man is continuing to be treated at the facility’s intensive care unit.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
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