Search for armed raiders in 2 separate attacks
Both raids took place yesterday, with the largest occurring in north Cork at around lunchtime.
A senior Garda spokesman said at approximately 1.20pm a van containing a man and a woman was returning with cash from a bank when they were robbed at gunpoint.
The van was taking cash to a business in Boherbue when it was flagged down at Coolykereen, near Kanturk.
The van driver pulled up on the road when a man wearing a green, fluorescent jacket signalled him to stop.
“He may have thought the man was a workman warning them of a problem on the road, or a farmer warning of machinery or cattle crossing,” the Garda spokesman said. However, when the man got nearer the van he pulled out a firearm and pointed it at the occupants.
The robber, who was wearing a balaclava, then forced them to hand over the money they had withdrawn from the bank, which was believed to be several thousand euro.
“He then forced them to turn into a laneway and made his escape,” the spokesman said.
Gardaí are not sure if the armed raider escaped on foot or not.
“As the people in the van didn’t see, it is possible he may have had some form of transport parked nearby, or he could have had an accomplice in a vehicle pick him up,” the spokesman said.
Gardaí stepped up patrols in the area and are appealing for anybody who saw the incident, or a man acting suspiciously at Coolykereen to contact them.
Coolykereen is nearly 7km from Kanturk, on the Boherbue road. Anybody with information is asked to contact Kanturk Garda Station at 029 20680.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Cork city are looking for a lone raider who held up staff at a post office.
At 11.58am yesterday the raider, described as being in his late teens or early 20s, went into St Luke’s post office and produced what appeared to be a handgun.
It is believed he fled empty-handed. Gardaí described him as wearing a red hoodie.
- Anybody who witnessed the raid is asked to contact Mayfield Garda Station at 021 4558510.
