Teams of armed gardaí rushed to one of Dublin’s busiest train stations on Wednesday evening after passengers saw a man with a shotgun travelling on an evening service into the city.
Members of the Armed Support Unit arrived in multiple vehicles at Connolly Station as a rapid reaction response was quickly put in place.
Though the man on the train, who was later arrested, is not believed to have threatened any other passengers, the fact other commuters saw him with the gun, and raised the alarm, created panic on board.
Garda sources said when the initial reports were received it was unclear if the man intended to harm anyone with the firearm as the situation was fluid, necessitating the scrambling of armed gardaí to the scene.
Man (50s) arrested at Dublin’s Connolly station after carrying shotgun on train
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Armed members went in to the station just after 6pm in a bid to assess the situation and bring it under control, with Garda vehicles driven down the platform to reach the train the man was on after it had arrived from Sligo. Uniformed gardaí took up position outside the station, allowing passengers to leave but blocking intended travellers from entering.
The man (50s) was arrested at the station following a “large scale response including several Garda Armed Response Units”, the Garda said in a statement. “The individual is not alleged to have made any threat towards any passenger on-board.”
The shotgun was undergoing tests to determine if it was decommissioned, as suspected.
An Irish Rail spokesperson said the operator received a report when the train the man was travelling on was between Maynooth, Co Kildare and Connolly. The Irish Times understands the man boarded the train in Maynooth.
“A report was received that an armed person was travelling on the 15.05 Sligo to Connolly train, as the train was approaching Connolly we alerted gardaí who requested trains to be suspended through Connolly while they attended. Trains were suspended from 18.30 to 19.15 approximately as a result. Gardaí attended and removed a person from the train.”
The man was detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939 and the firearm seized for a technical examinations.
Gardaí made a request to Irish Rail that all services in and out of the station were suspended while they responded to the incident.
The building was evacuated and members of the force carried out a full security sweep of the station as well as the train the man had arrived on.
The station was reopened shortly before 7.30pm. All services in and out of Connolly were delayed by more than 50 minutes as a result of the incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Store Street Garda station on 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.
An Garda Síochána said it is “aware of commentary in circulation online in relation to this incident which contains misinformation, disinformation and fake news”.
“Once again, An Garda Síochána appeal to the public to independently verify any information that is shared on social media and/or sent through messaging sharing apps.”
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