The garda who shot and killed George Nkencho has told an inquest he believed he would be killed if he did not use lethal force.
Mr Nkencho (27) died outside his home in Clonee, west Dublin, in December 2020 after being shot multiple times by the Garda armed support unit.
The firearms officer, Garda A, gave evidence at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday. He has been granted anonymity, but was visible to the coroner, jury and legal teams.
The inquest heard how Garda A and another firearms officer, Garda B, arrived at the scene and found Mr Nkencho surrounded by 10 gardaí.
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En route they had heard a “panicked” call for assistance over their radio from what Garda A “took to be an unarmed guard” calling for armed response back up, adding there was a “frantic urgency to get there”.
Along with images of Garda weapons, the jury were shown photos of the 22cm knife Mr Nkencho was holding.
The Garda member described how Mr Nkencho appeared “highly alert and focused” and was instructed to “drop the knife”. Garda A feared he “would attack anyone who stood in front of him or try to arrest him”.
Garda A described how he followed Mr Nkencho as “I didn’t know who else was in the area, and it’s my obligation to protect people in the area”.
He said his intention was to “challenge” Mr Nkencho and “de-escalate the situation, or deal with it as well as we could”.
He described Mr Nkencho as a “young, fit, strong man” who was “extremely aggressive”.
Garda A said “if he were just to take off running” it would be difficult to follow as they were wearing equipment.
“If he just absconds out of the area, then it’s in my mind that I’ve failed,” he said.
“I need to contain this situation, and I’m not doing that if I’m behind the other gardaí, or if I’m not behind him.”
He then described how Mr Nkencho was followed into the garden of a private home, ignoring gardaí. Garda A was unaware it was Mr Nkencho’s home, he said.
The driveway where the confrontation with Mr Nkencho ended was not fully contained, Garda A said, as he was concerned he could have entered the house.
Garda A described how Mr Nkencho lunged with a knife and after a “taser, taser, taser” warning was shouted Mr Nkencho was tasered twice by firearms officers.
In evidence, Garda A said he then tried, unsuccessfully, to retrieve the knife while Mr Nkencho was on the ground, but the man was more alert than expected and stabbed at Garda A’s legs.
In his description of events, Garda A outlined how pepper spray deployed by Garda B appeared also to have little effect on Mr Nkencho, who got to his feet.
“He was alert, moving quickly, he was angry-looking with gritted teeth and wild glaring eyes,” Garda A said.
Garda A described how Mr Nkencho continued to attack, “lunging” with the knife, so he decided “it was absolutely necessary for me to use lethal force against this male attacking me from close proximity”.
Garda A explained using a Heckler & Koch MP7 firearm to shoot Mr Nkencho “at the central mass of this male’s body, as trained, not to kill him but to have the best chance of stopping him”.
He said he “fully expected him to fall over injured”, but said Mr Nkencho kept coming with the knife.
He then outlined a series of “split-second” decisions which followed.
Garda A shot again, knowing it was “lethal force I was using against him, but believing it was proportionate to avert him” and continued to back away from Mr Nkencho.
Three more shots were fired by Garda A, until they were “backed up against a hedge in the garden”.
At that point, Garda A said Mr Nkencho was still standing with a knife in his hand.
Garda A described how the sixth shot “was different” and Mr Nkencho “fell over and was seriously injured on the ground”.
Then Garda A said he became aware of “screaming coming from the house” and “two or three adult females” came out of the front door.
At that point Garda A and his colleague started CPR on Mr Nkencho.
The jury was shown a mobile phone video clip of the shooting, filmed by a member of the public, which appeared to show Mr Nkencho being shot in the back. Jurors heard how a pathology report indicated Mr Nkencho had a gunshot entry wound in his back.
Asked by Eanna Mulloy SC, for the family, about this, Garda A said Mr Nkencho was “flailing around” and “it wasn’t a protracted thing where I was able to take a conscious shot at his back”.
Mr Mulloy also asked Garda A that if they had been aware of Mr Nkencho’s mental health issues at the time then would they have done anything differently.
Garda A said: “Mr Nkencho was flailing around with the knife, it wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Asked by Mr Mulloy if other options were considered including putting a barrier between Mr Nkencho and firearms officers, Garda A said: “There was no barrier, I considered every option, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that there’s absolutely no option.”
Questioned if inquiries were made of local gardaí to help inform the situation, including if they knew about the house or Mr Nkencho, Garda A said: “No, we didn’t do that, the time didn’t allow it, it was just instantaneous.”
Garda A also described how it was “international best practice” for armed officers to aim for the body, rather than to try to immobilise targets by shooting arms or legs.
It was “unfortunate” but gave the “best opportunity” to stop a “threat”, the inquest heard.
Garda A also said he had started training to join the Armed Support Unit in 2016, but the day of the incident was the first time he had discharged his weapon in an operational manner.
Garda B told the inquest he thought his colleague had been stabbed during the incident.
Garda B discharged his Taser “for the safety of myself and any other members of the public in the vicinity”.
Mr Nkencho fell to the ground, but continued to move and they were unable to disarm him.
Garda B said Garda A also discharged a Taser and kicked at Mr Nkencho in an attempt to get the knife from his hand but was unsuccessful.
As Mr Nkencho got to his feet, Garda B pepper sprayed him to “disarm and detain him as safely as possible”.
This did not stop Mr Nkencho standing and “lunging” at Garda A, Garda B said. The inquest heard it was the first time Garda B had deployed a pepper spray and the canister was slightly out of date.
Throughout the incident, Garda B said, Mr Nkencho was “always moving around” and “aggressive” and continued “swinging the knife”.
“I didn’t see him standing still at any stage for any length of time.”
Garda B said he retreated and drew a firearm as Mr Nkencho was so close to Garda A that Garda B believed Mr Nkencho had stabbed his colleague.
“I believed that I may have to engage this male to try to protect Garda A’s life”, Garda B said.
“Garda A backed up in my direction, and I checked [Garda A] for injuries, as I believed he had been stabbed.
Garda B said they then approached Mr Nkencho, who was holding the knife in his right hand but not moving.
After disarming him, Garda B checked him for injuries and, after seeing blood, radioed an ambulance.
Under cross-examination by Mr Mulloy, Garda B said they were not aware if Mr Nkencho had any mental health problems.
Garda B also confirmed he had never discharged his firearm outside of training.
At the end of their evidence, Garda A and Garda B offered their condolences to the Nkencho family.
The incident was the subject of an independent criminal investigation by Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), now Fiosrú, which concluded in June 2023 with the submission of a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A decision was made not to pursue any criminal prosecution in relation to the shooting.
The inquest continues. – PA
