Gardaí treating Carlow shooting incident as a 'suicide plan'

The scene at Fairgreen Shopping centre, Carlow on Monday. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

Gardaí suspect that Evan Fitzgerald was intent on suicide at the Carlow shopping centre on Sunday — but are analysing his phones and online activity to determine if there was any extremism influence on his actions.

The Special Detective Unit — the force’s anti-terrorism squad — is assisting local gardaí, who are leading the investigation.

Searches have been conducted at Mr Fitzgerald’s home in Co Wicklow as well as lockups and lands associated with him — and evidence removed for examination.

The 22-year-old was on bail for serious firearms charges despite objections of gardaí, who said the young man had a “fascination” with firearms.

The bail matter sparked comments from Taoiseach Micheál Martin yesterday, who said there were “concerning issues” with the bail laws, which, he pointed out, were already under review.

He also indicated that prosecutions need to be “quicker” so that the length of time on bail is “shorter”.

Mr Fitzgerald’s mental health, his intense online activity, and his likely impending prison sentence have been suggested as possible factors in his actions.

Little over a day after he walked into Fairgreen Shopping Centre and began shooting into the air — causing panic among people, including children — the following details have emerged:

• Gardaí suspect Mr Fitzgerald had devised a “suicide plan”, in which he would die either at his own hands or in ‘suicide by cop’, where police are forced into a situation to shoot a person in order to neutralise a threat they pose;
• A key part of the plan was getting a weapon, which Mr Fitzgerald is thought to have done by burgling a house and taking a legally-owned shotgun and cartridges (or had cartridges himself);
• Gardaí have conducted searches at Mr Fitzgerald’s family home, and other locations, and material, including phones and digital devices, have been taken for forensic examination;
• Officers hope this examination will reveal if there are any other factors, such as interaction with extremism material, which may have influenced his actions; 
• Risk assessments and engagements were carried out on associates of Mr Fitzgerald to assess if any posed a threat, but no issues are thought to have arisen;
• Officers are examining why Mr Fitzgerald had a bottle on him, containing, what gardaí said, was an “unknown substance”, and which responding gardaí feared could have been part of an explosive device;
• Gardaí believe that Mr Fitzgerald had no intention to harm anyone else and could have killed people if he had wanted.

Garda HQ said gardaí received reports of shots fired at Fairgreen at 6.15pm on Sunday and that when uniform gardaí arrived “a large number of people” were fleeing the centre.

When the gunman emerged he discharged another cartridge into the air.

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

“All the circumstances suggest 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.” 

A second source said: “This was a personal tragedy, 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.” 

A third source said: “This is a sad case. But, it’s a mental health case, rather than anything else...mixed with today’s society and unlimited access to the internet.”

Gardaí will prepare a file for the coroner, while Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, confirmed it is conducting an investigation.