Mayo woman critically injured in Australian shooting named locally as Eileen Gibbons

Ms. Gibbons, the mother of a one-year old daughter, Sylvia, sustained serious abdominal injuries when shot in her home on Tuesday evening.

The Co Mayo-born social worker critically injured in a gun attack in Darwin, Australia, has been named locally as Eileen Gibbons from Castlebar.

Ms Gibbons, the mother of a one-year old daughter, Sylvia, sustained serious abdominal injuries when shot in her home on Tuesday evening.

Police were called to a home on Sprigg Street in Millner, a suburb of Darwin, just after 6.30pm local time on Tuesday, after a neighbour heard two gunshots.

Her assailant, a 35-year-old male who was known to her, died at the scene from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. A firearm was also found lying near his body.

The 38-year-old was stabilised by paramedics at the scene before being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

Close relatives of the injured woman are making preparations to travel to Darwin to be at her bedside.

ICU staff at Royal Darwin Hospital have told relations making enquiries by phone from Ireland that she is “conscious and her condition is stable”.

News of the tragedy has shocked and saddened the Castlebar community where Eileen grew up and where she holidayed for five weeks during the summer.

Martin McLoughlin, a member of Mayo County Council, said: “I know the family well. I woke up this morning to the devastating news.

“The community here is shocked to the core. I can only wish Eileen the very best and I hope she makes a full recovery.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with the family at this dreadfully painful time”.

Ms. Gibbons has four siblings, two brothers and four sisters.

Her father, Sean, a retired ambulance driver, passed away in May 2021. Her mother, Ann, works in a local retail outlet.

Friends of the social worker are recalling today that she spent what appeared to be a happy extended holiday in Castlebar during the summer.

One said: “Eileen seemed in the best of form, glad to be home and delighted to be meeting up with friends and relatives again. She had been living in Darwin for the past seven years or so”.

Speaking on Tuesday, Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey said detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

He also said the firearm believed to have been used in the shooting had been located, and that police do not expect to make any arrests in connection with the shooting.