Former Garda assistant commissioner backs calls for inquiry into Evan Fitzgerald case

Evan Fitzgerald arriving at Naas Court in March on charges of possession of firearms. On June 1 he fired shots in the air at Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow before taking his own life with a stolen shotgun. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins 

A former assistant Garda commissioner has backed calls for an independent inquiry into the garda handling of the Evan Fitzgerald case — the young man who took his own life in a Carlow shopping centre shooting.

Pat Leahy said “a public trust and confidence issue” has emerged about the case in which an undercover garda operation was used to sell decommissioned weapons to Mr Fitzgerald after a tip-off that he was attempting to source weapons on the dark web.