Man charged following knife incident at car park in Louth

A man has been charged in connection with a public order incident involving a knife in Dundalk on Monday.

Update:

A man has been charged in connection with a public order incident involving a knife in Dundalk on Monday.

At around 9.30pm, gardaí responded to the incident which saw a man armed with a knife at an open car park. 

He was disarmed by gardaí using what they described as a “less-lethal force option”.

Frontline uniform gardaí were supported by Armed Support Unit personnel.

A garda spokesperson said that gardaí “engaged with the male to try and deescalate the situation and directed him to drop the knife.” 

 “The male did not comply and gardaí from the Armed Support Unit discharged one round from a 40mm less-lethal force option.

“As a result of this intervention, gardaí were able to disarm the male."

Sources have confirmed that the less-lethal force option used by gardaí to disarm the man was a high density foam ball that is shot from a distance which is understood to feel like a baton force when impacted and has been a force option available to gardaí for many years.

The discharge of a less-lethal device has been notified to Fiosrú, the office of the police ombudsman, as is the policy of An Garda Síochána.

In an update, gardaí said the man in his 30s who was arrested has since been charged and is due to appear before Drogheda District Court on Tuesday morning.

The arrested man received appropriate medical treatment.

Earlier: A man armed with a knife at a car park in Louth, who was disarmed by gardaí using what they described as a “less-lethal force option”, has been arrested.

Last night at approximately 9.30pm, gardaí responded to an incident involving a man armed with a knife at an open car park in Dundalk, Co Louth.

Frontline uniform gardaí were supported by Armed Support Unit personnel.

A garda spokesperson said that gardaí “engaged with the male to try and deescalate the situation and directed him to drop the knife”.

“The male did not comply and gardaí from the Armed Support Unit discharged one round from a 40mm less-lethal force option.

“As a result of this intervention, gardaí were able to disarm the male.

“The male has been arrested and is currently detained at Dundalk Garda Station,” the spokesperson continued.

Sources have confirmed that the less-lethal force option used by gardaí to disarm the man was a high density foam ball that is shot from a distance which is understood to feel like a baton force when impacted and has been a force option available to gardaí for many years.