Gardaí investigate factors behind 'suicide plan' at shopping centre

Sources believe Evan Fitzgerald had decided where to go — Fairgreen Shopping Centre — knowing it would have people there. Picture: michaelorourkephotography.ie

As it stands, the shocking events at a shopping centre in Carlow on Sunday are being treated primarily as a personal tragedy.

Mental health issues experienced by Evan Fitzgerald and the impact of the dark side of the internet on him are being suggested as possible factors. The reality of a potential lengthy sentence for serious firearms offences the 22-year-old was facing may also have weighed on his mind.

All of which could have fed into what gardaí suspect was a suicide plan — to die either at his own hands or ‘suicide by cop’.

This refers to situations where a gunman confronts armed police and behaves in such a way as to give little choice to police but to shoot and neutralize the threat.

Gardaí have conducted searches and are examining Mr Fitzgerald’s phones and online activity to see if there is anything to suggest an extremism factor that might have influenced or motivated him.

Security sources believe Mr Fitzgerald had developed a plan. A key part of that was sourcing a firearm.

It is thought he did this by breaking into a house — perhaps not far from his home area in Portrushen, Kiltegan, Co Wicklow — and stealing a shotgun. He must have either taken ammunition as well, or had his own.

Sources believe he had decided where to go — Fairgreen Shopping Centre — knowing it would have people there.

He also brought with him a bottle, containing a substance. The plan, it seems, was to end his life.

“All the circumstances suggest the motivation behind his plan was suicide,” one source said. 

“Whether he intended this would be ‘suicide by cop’ or at his own hand we don’t know. But we do know that as soon as armed gardaí arrived he shot himself. It could be that was what he planned, or it could be he changed his mind.” 

The source said Mr Fitzgerald walked up and down floors at the centre and that if he wanted to kill anyone he could have shot “a number of people quickly”.

He fired a number of rounds from his shotgun into the air.

A second source said: “This was a personal tragedy, a suicide, a very public one. We are very fortunate it wasn’t a lot worse.

He had ample opportunity, if he wanted, to kill someone, but all his shots were into the air. There was no indication he wanted to harm anyone else.

It is understood that eye-witnesses did not report him threatening people or pointing a gun at anyone.

When uniform gardaí arrived they saw a large number of people fleeing the centre and then saw the suspect walking out. At this stage Mr Fitzgerald fired another round into the air.

When plainclothes armed gardaí arrived, they drew their weapons and identified themselves as armed gardaí to the suspect, who then shot himself. No garda weapons were discharged.

As soon as Mr Fitzgerald went down, gardaí noticed there was an object by his side, appearing to be a container or bottle containing a substance.

Gardaí did not know what it was, but knew it could be something potentially dangerous, such as an explosive or a possible device. The called in the Defence Forces’ bomb squad.

They declared the scene safe and gardaí have only said to date the bottle contained an “unknown substance”. What Mr Fitzgerald's intention was with this object is unclear.

One source said: “Was it part of the theatre of his actions, was it to make gardaí believe he had a device or explosive? Was is to get gardaí to shoot him?” 

Gardaí are investigating if there is any other factor at play here — whether, for example, this tactic was learned from other incidents — either suicide or terrorist attacks — from the internet.

A third source believes that Mr Fitzgerald suffered mental health issues and that this combined with his intense activity online, including the darknet.

“This is a sad case,” a source said. 

But, it’s a mental health case, rather than anything else. Mental health mixed with today’s society and unlimited access to the internet.

Mr Fitzgerald's impending future could well have been a factor.

He, along with two other young men, were arrested in May 2024 on foot of an operation by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

The charges relate to the possession of a G3 a Heckler & Koch rifle, a Remmington M1911 handgun, and rounds of ammunition.

It is alleged the firearms and ammunition were purchased on the dark web by Mr Fitzgerald using an encrypted proton email account.

The court was told Mr Fitzgerald had made full admissions. It was alleged the guns were to be used for shooting in woods.

The court was told that Mr Fitzgerald had “a fascination” with firearms.

Despite the objections of gardaí, Mr Fitzgerald and his two co-accused were granted bail.

Concerns over bail laws are now resurfacing, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin indicating that setting maximum bail length should be examined in the wake of Sunday's events.