Police Statement After Several Injured In Dublin Incident

Evening Standard

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00:00 How are we doing? Can we go live Garda? Yes, no problem at all.

00:05 So, open my eyes, will we be live yet?

00:10 Alright. Good evening. On Garda Síochána, continue to investigate all of the circumstances

00:17 of a serious assault which occurred on Parnell Square East shortly after 1.30pm this afternoon,

00:22 Thursday 22 November 2023. Preliminary indications are that a male attacked a number of people

00:28 on Parnell Square East. Five casualties have been taken to hospitals in the Dublin region.

00:35 These casualties include three young children, an adult female and an adult male. One girl

00:41 aged five years has sustained serious injuries and is currently receiving emergency medical

00:47 treatment in CHI Temple Street. One boy aged five years and a girl aged six years who received

00:54 less serious injuries were brought to CHI Crumlin for treatment. The boy has since been

01:00 discharged from CHI Crumlin. On Garda Síochána is providing support to the parents of all

01:05 the children. The adult female in her 30s is being treated for serious injuries at the

01:11 Mater Hospital. An adult male in his 50s is also being treated for serious injuries at

01:17 a hospital in the Dublin region. The scene remains sealed off at this time and a technical

01:22 examination of the scene is ongoing. An incident room has been established here at Mount Dry

01:27 Garda station and a senior investigating officer has been appointed. On Garda Síochána is

01:33 following a definite line of enquiry. The male in his 50s is a person of interest to

01:38 On Garda Síochána in this investigation and On Garda Síochána is not looking for

01:43 any other person at this time. On Garda Síochána continues to have an open mind at this early

01:48 stage of the investigation. On Garda Síochána is appealing to any person with any information

01:55 on this attack to contact Investigating Gardaí. Investigating Gardaí are also appealing

02:01 to any person who may have mobile phone footage of the attack or the immediate aftermath to

02:06 make this footage available to On Garda Síochána. Investigating Gardaí can be contacted here

02:11 at Mount Dry Garda station at 016668600, the Garda Confidential line at 1800666111 or at

02:23 any Garda station. On Garda Síochána is not in a position to provide any further information

02:27 at this early stage of the investigation. Thank you.

02:29 Are there any wider implications because of this attack? Is there any suggestion of terrorism?

02:34 Are there any suggestions of the nature of what has occurred? Or any other issue with

02:37 the authorities?

02:38 As you can appreciate this is a very early stage of the investigation which is not even

02:43 four hours old at this stage. But at this time On Garda Síochána is satisfied from

02:47 our enquiries that there is no terror related activity or related to any wider aspects in

02:53 relation to this matter. It would appear to be a stand-alone attack and we need to determine

02:58 the reasons behind that.

02:59 And the information that the victim was held accountable or suspected in this case?

03:04 I'm not in a position to go into that detail at this time.

03:06 Garda, we heard there was a scuffle beforehand, can you confirm that?

03:08 I can't confirm that at this time, my apologies.

03:10 What can you tell us about the children at the event? Were they attending school?

03:13 Were they stab wounds?

03:14 My understanding is a knife was used in the attack. But we're not going to provide any

03:18 more details on the nature of the injuries.

03:20 What can you tell us about the children? I mean they were attending local school. Why

03:23 were they out in the street?

03:25 Again I don't have a specific reason why the children or any of their carers or teachers

03:30 may have been on the street. But it's a public road, it's outside their school, it's a normal

03:33 activity for them to go to and from their school. We need to determine the reasons behind

03:37 the attack. It's at the very early stages of the investigation at this time.

03:40 What did she do to something while being in the childhood?

03:42 She's in a critical condition, certainly in a serious condition in CHI Temple Street.

03:47 Is she on primary care?

03:48 Again that's not for me to disclose at this time.

03:50 Has the man been questioned yet?

03:52 The male is receiving medical treatment at this time.

03:54 Is he an Irish national?

03:55 Again I'm not in a position to confirm the specific details of any of the individuals

03:59 involved in this incident.

04:00 Have all the parents been alerted or the children contacted?

04:03 Yes, parents were aware of the incident very, very quickly and did attend. We are dealing

04:08 with not just the parents of the three children but parents of the wider group that would

04:12 have seen and saw the attack or were potentially traumatised as well as a result of what happened

04:17 this afternoon.

04:18 Are the parents interested?

04:19 Yes, again that's not for Angarish, Econa, but we are assured that the school will put

04:23 in provisions for the family, for the children as to what they observed and experienced this

04:28 afternoon.

04:29 Are all the children from your school?

04:31 Again I'm not 100% sure exactly on the details of all the children and where they're from.

04:36 Can you say how quickly the situation was resolved?

04:38 Sorry?

04:39 Can you say how quickly the incident was resolved and how quickly Gardaí were able to get involved?

04:43 My understanding is that the first emergency services were within minutes followed very,

04:48 very quickly by Angarish, Econa.

04:50 My understanding is that members of the public did intervene at the very, very early stage

04:56 and again we would applaud those members of the public for getting involved in such a

05:00 traumatic and potentially dangerous situation for themselves.

05:03 Were hospital staff arrived at the scene?

05:05 It's my understanding that the person of interest was detained at the scene.

05:08 Were hospital staff arrived at the scene?

05:10 Again I'm not aware of that so I'm not.

05:12 Do you have any concerns about the scenes of unrest around the scene that was cornered

05:15 off today?

05:16 Again we're aware that the public are concerned about the activities that happened today.

05:20 Again I suppose the message to them is we believe that this is a standalone incident,

05:24 not necessarily connected to any wider issues that are going on in the country or in the

05:30 city and we need to identify exact reasons for that happening.

05:33 So we'd ask for people not to jump to conclusions and not to make rash judgments on what may

05:38 have happened.

05:39 So you just hear this is a ransom attack?

05:41 Again we need to understand the purpose behind the attack.

05:44 Again that's part of what the investigation will do.

05:46 Have other schools been put on alert for situations like this to happen again?

05:49 No we don't believe that this is an attack on the school.

05:52 What injuries were sustained by the person of interest?

05:54 Again we're not confirming the injuries of any of the individuals involved in the incident

05:58 at this time.

05:59 Thank you very much guys.

06:00 Thank you.

06:01 Thank you.

06:02 Bye bye.

06:03 I think it's a bit complex on the situation that happened.

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