Customers caught up in a post-office raid in 2005 in which members of the Garda's Emergency Response Unit (ERU) shot two raiders dead have told the men's inquests that they were terrified and thought they would be killed.
The opening day of the double inquest heard that gardaí shouted a warning at one of the men to put down his weapon before the shots were fired by the officers. The Dublin City Coroner's Court heard the armed man turned to gardaí, with his firearm pointing in their direction, after he had been warned to drop his gun.
Security was tight at the court. Everyone entering was required to walk through a metal detector. Bags and personal effects were checked by uniformed gardaí.
Members of the ERU, including those who fired the fatal shots, are to give their evidence from behind a curtain in order to protect their anonymity.
Colm Griffin (33), Canon Lillis Avenue, and Eric Hopkins (24), Lower Rutland Street, both Dublin, were shot dead by the ERU as they tried to steal €48,500 on the morning of May 26th, 2005, from a post office and shop in Lusk, north Co Dublin.
A third man, Gavin Farrelly (35), Lower Sheriff Street, Dublin, surrendered at the scene. He was sentenced last May to 10 years in jail, with two years suspended, after pleading guilty to attempted robbery and allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car.
Det Supt Dominic Hayes, attached to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told the court he received information that an armed robbery would take place at Lusk post office on the morning of May 26th.
He took up duty at 6.30am and travelled in an unmarked patrol car to the M1. Shortly after 7am he observed a white van travelling to Lusk from the M1 and he recognised one of the occupants as Colm Griffin. Afterwards he saw a silver Hyundai Traget, which was registered to an associate of Griffin and rang Supt Tom Gallagher of Balbriggan to inform him. At 8am he became aware of a delivery of cash to Lusk post office under Garda escort, he said.
Witness Noel Murphy said he called to the Lusk shop and post office where the shooting took place to buy a newspaper and food on the way to his work as a plasterer. He said when the three masked men came in a back door the armed man took up a position in the shop where he could see both the post office counter and the deli counter.
He was "terrified" he was about to be shot.
One of the raiders shouted to a number of women working behind the counter in the post office: "Open the door, come on, what's keeping you? Open the f***ing door."
He said he saw the gunman discharging two shots. He then heard gardaí, who entered the front door of the building, shouting: "Armed police, armed police, drop your weapon."
"He [ the armed raider] then turned around towards the police with the gun pointing at them," Mr Murphy told the inquest.
He saw one of the unarmed raiders fall to the floor and he realised he had been shot.
Another shop customer and Lusk resident, Mary Magee, said when the raiders burst in they shouted "get down, get down, get down". She considered running out but "something" stopped her.
"I was afraid they might be outside as well and they might kill me. I was petrified I was never going to see my kids again."
A statement from another customer, Patrice McMahon, was read into the record. She said she lay on the floor crying.
"I thought I was going to be shot. I just thought of my daughter the whole time."
Stephen Lawless, a resident of Lusk, said he was delivering eggs to shops in the area the morning in question. He parked his van outside the shop and as he was making his delivery three masked men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, entered the premises through a back door.
The armed man pointed the weapon directly at him.
He was pulled to the ground by another customer, Mr Murphy. Mr Lawless said the next thing he saw was one of the raiders' bodies skidding ont o the floor in front of him.
The inquest, which continues this morning, is expected to hear from 40 witness in all.