Man who shot gardaí identified as known Dublin criminal
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau examine the house on Whitechapel Grove, Blanchardstown, where Daniel Goulding opened fire on gardai from an upstairs bedroom window on Tuesday night. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin
A man involved in a “terrifying” shooting incident in west Dublin on Tuesday evening which saw two gardaí wounded has been identified as 38-year-old Daniel Goulding.
The two gardaí shot during the three-hour standoff at Whitechapel Grove in Blanchardstown remain in hospital, but are expected to make a full recovery.
Goulding was previously shot six times in an assassination attempt perpetrated by members of his own gang in Dublin in 2012, while in 2009 he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for possession of €70,000 worth of cocaine.
He has more than 30 other convictions.
Local councillor John Walsh described the incident as “absolutely terrifying for local people” and said it “should never have happened”.
“It’s disgraceful, it could easily have led to loss of life, and was very difficult and traumatic for all involved,” Mr Walsh said.
“What should be said is that the people of Blanchardstown have a really good relationship with the gardaí, and they cooperated fully from the moment this began.”
Mr Walsh said he wanted to pay tribute to “the courage of the gardaí involved, and the way in which the operation was managed”.
“I know the two gardaí who were injured have had surgery, I just want to wish them the very best, this isn’t the sort of thing that should happen to anyone when they go to work,” he said.
The incident unfolded at a house in Blanchardstown at about 7pm on Tuesday following a report that the man had been involved in an altercation.
The two injured gardaí, both armed plain-clothes detectives in their 30s, were both shot in the foot, with one of them also sustaining a hand injury during the incident.
Gardaí were seen crouching behind vehicles and lying on the ground for protection after a man opened fire out the window of the house using an automatic pistol.
The two injured men were brought from the scene to awaiting ambulances.
The incident unfolded in close proximity to where a local children’s football team, Mount View FC, was in training at the time.
The first Garda members at the scene were forced to take cover behind a patrol car as the firing started, with the same vehicle hit by multiple bullets. Over the following two hours, local houses were evacuated as a massive Garda operation, involving heavily armed officers and a Garda negotiator, unfolded.
Just before 10pm the incident came to a close as first a number of firearms were thrown out of the house window before the man himself emerged with his hands up.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris commended all the gardaí involved, “in particular the two detectives who were first on scene”.
“This was another in a long line of examples of Gardaí putting themselves on the line to keep people safe. I want to wish them a speedy recovery," he said.
