Violent incidents have erupted in Dublin, Ireland, hours after a knife attack left five people, including three children, injured, amid rumors about the attacker’s identity.
Emotion then confusion. Five people, including three children, were hospitalized in a stabbing attack in Dublin this Thursday, November 23. As the attacker was arrested, hundreds of Irish people took to the streets of the city, attacking police cars or public property near the scene of the attack.
• Two were “seriously” injured
Five people were injured in a knife attack near a school on Thursday afternoon. According to Irish police, they were all taken to hospital after a “serious incident”.
Police were not looking for “anyone else,” local police chief Liam Geraghty announced, stressing that investigators had ruled out any “terrorist” motive in view of the first elements of the investigation.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has announced that a suspect has been arrested. It is as follows RTE Media A man in his forties was hospitalized with serious injuries.
In a press release, the police confirmed that they were following a specific lead, the nature of which they did not specify, and confirmed that they were not looking for “any other person”.
“It appears to be an isolated attack and we need to determine the reasons,” he said, referring to the use of the knife.
“But we are unable to provide more information on the nature of the injuries,” he added.
The victims were a man, a woman and three small children. A girl and a woman were “critically” injured, police said. A security ring was established around the scene of the events in the center of the Irish capital.
• “Shock” and “Horror”
An eyewitness told RTE how events unfolded. “Without thinking, I crossed the street to help,” she said.
According to his account, the assailant was disarmed with the help of a young man in particular. “Another man took the knife and put it to one side” so it could be handed over to police, she said.
The two children and the woman were taken back into the school they came from, describing the chaotic scene. According to her, the assailant was on the ground, holding her down in front of several people.
“We are all shocked by the events at Parnell Square,” the Prime Minister said in a statement, sending “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families.
“The facts in this case are clear. The emergency services responded very quickly and were on the scene within minutes,” he continued.
The leader of Sinn Fein, the third political force in the Irish parliament, Mary Lou McDonald, said she was “horrified” by the facts and noted that she had spoken to the head of the institution, Gaelscoil Cóláiste Mhuire. Support the academic community.
He expressed his “solidarity” with the families of the victims and praised the quick response of the police.
• Burning of police vehicles, looting…
Two hours after the attack, clashes erupted. Blamed on the right, these incidents took the local authorities completely by surprise. “Irish Lives Matter” signs and Irish flags were waved during these events, unprecedented for many years, and attended by hundreds if not thousands of people.
They took place in a neighborhood inhabited by expats and against the backdrop of rumors about the attacker’s origins. Police casually stated that he was in his fifties.
A police car and at least one bus were set on fire and police were targeted by projectiles from a crowd that was also hostile to the “mainstream media”. Taking advantage of the absence of police, youths took advantage of the scene of looting in the shopping street.
“Irish people are being attacked by these scum,” said one man during the confrontation, while others in the crowd were referring to the recent killing of a young teacher by a Slovak national sentenced to life in prison.
One police officer, Commissioner Drew Harris, spoke to reporters about “a group of crazed thugs driven by far-right ideology.” He condemned “rumours” and “incitement” spread for “malicious purposes”.
“We will not tolerate a small number of appalling facts being used to sow division,” Justice Minister Helen McEntee said in a statement, calling for “calm”. He warned that attacks against the police “must be condemned” and dealt with “sternly”.
Riot police and armored vehicles were deployed to restore calm in the evening.
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