At about 2.30pm on Sunday, a stream of ambulances, fire engines and Garda cars, including armed response units, drove at speed up the North Circular Road towards the Phoenix Park before turning on to Oxmantown Road.
Once there, emergency workers found a scene of fear and confusion. Locals reported a man wearing a face-covering making his way down the long residential street and its side avenues, attacking people with a bladed weapon seemingly at random.
Hearing the sirens, residents stepped out of their front doors to see what was happening. A firefighter ran down the road telling them to go back in and that there was an armed assailant about.
Armed gardaí rushed to the end of Oxmantown Road, which turns on to Manor Place, where they found the suspect outside one of the small red-bricked houses. An unarmed garda helped restrain the man before loading him into a patrol car.
“I saw a lot of Garda cars arrive really fast. They all jumped out at exactly the same time. I saw a guy running, and they dived on him outside a house.
“He just screamed and screamed and screamed ‘leave me alone’. He was terrified, like someone who wasn’t expecting that to happen. And then it all stopped.”
By then, three people had been attacked. There was no discernible pattern. One man was slashed within the doorway of his house.
[ Stoneybatter: Gardaí dismiss asylum seeker rumour in Stanley knife attackOpens in new window ]
“He had his key in the door when it happened,” said a source. The victim had just moved in recently, neighbours said. Another victim was on a bicycle and ran towards his house after being slashed, witnesses said.
During the incident, residents described the suspect running up the road while wearing some form of face-covering. Some said he was shouting, but they couldn’t make out what he was saying.
As bad as the injuries are, sources said they could have been much worse. The man was armed with a scissors and a Stanley blade. All three victims are being treated in hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
By 3.30pm, gardaí were able to confirm the suspect was in custody. But the fear in the area remained. Rumours circulated on the streets and in WhatsApp Groups that the wrong man had been arrested and the real attacker was still at large.
Gardaí continued to field calls about suspicious men spotted walking in the area. An eastern European man was briefly stopped on the street by gardaí and questioned about his movements.
Investigators are satisfied, however, that the man in custody is the only suspect. “There is no ongoing risk to the public at this time,” said a Garda statement.
What is less clear is the motive. Sources said there is nothing to indicate terrorism as a motivation. Contrary to rumours, he is not an international protection applicant.
Meanwhile, many residents on the quiet streets around Stoneybatter, many of whom are elderly, remained fearful on Sunday evening. “It’s the randomness of it that is the scary thing,” said one local.
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