THE GARDA Ombudsman’s Office last night began an investigation after a gunman was shot by gardaí when he failed to drop a weapon after entering a pub in Cork city and demanding to see the owner.
The man, who was in his 20s, was shot in the stomach and rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. His condition was described by a HSE South spokeswoman as “serious”.
The incident happened at about 6.40pm when the man, armed with a loaded shotgun, entered the Mo Chuisle Bar near the bottom of Blarney Street on the northside of the city and demanded to see the owner of the pub.
Gardaí were alerted and members of the armed regional support unit were mobilised. They entered the pub where it is understood that three armed members of the unit challenged the man and ordered him to drop his weapon.
The man refused to do so and one of the officers discharged a single shot from his Sig 9mm automatic weapon, wounding the man in the stomach whereupon the loaded shotgun was confiscated and the man was rushed to hospital.
It is understood the entire incident was captured on CCTV. According to one Garda source the single shot fired by the member of the response unit was discharged in accordance with guidelines when the man presented as a legitimate target after failing to drop his weapon.
Last night’s incident is the second in which shots were fired at the pub. On October 5th, 2008 a man armed with a sawn-off shotgun fired a shot into the bar which was full of customers.
No one was injured and the gunman made his getaway on his motorbike and despite an extensive Garda investigation, no one was ever apprehended for the shooting which gardaí believed was linked to the death of a local man, Anthony “Farmer” Hennessy who died after being ejected from the pub.
Hennessy (41), of Chapel Field, Gurranebraher, Cork, collapsed and died outside Mo Chuisle pub in March 2008 and last year an inquest heard that he died from compression of the neck with acute alcohol consumption as a contributory factor.
It is understood that the man shot last night is a relation of Hennessy and that there had been an earlier incident on Thursday night when another relative of the dead man was arrested by gardaí after he went to the bar and began throwing bottles and glasses at staff.
Last November, the owner of the pub, Niall Burns, who is in his late 40s and from Glen Springs, Blackstone Bridge, Cork, was acquitted of a charge of endangerment in relation to Mr Hennessy’s death by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr Burns had been accused of endangerment on March 13th and 14th, 2008 at Blarney Street, Cork, where it was alleged that he had intentionally or recklessly engaged in the forceful restraint of Anthony Hennessy, which created a substantial risk of death or serious injury.
However, following over three hours of deliberation, the jury of four men and eight women found him not guilty by a unanimous decision prompting an angry response from some relatives and friends of the dead man.