A resident of a gated apartment complex in Donaghmede, Dublin, described a scene of “chaos” after a 17-year-old Ukrainian boy was killed in a violent incident on Wednesday morning.
The teenager had sustained multiple wounds to his head, hands and upper body in what sources believe was a frenzied attack.
“I came home to chaos,” said the female resident of Grattan Wood apartment complex. “There was people running around everywhere, some of them covered in blood. The guards were asking them if they were injured. The first thing I saw was the Emergency Response Unit running into the apartments and then chaos.
“One of the women, she looked like a care worker, had blood on her hand and she didn’t realise she was stabbed until she washed her hands.
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“There was painters doing a job in an apartment up there and they ran out to see what was going on. Kids everywhere and guards all over the place.”
The complex, off Hole in the Wall Road, is generally very quiet and safe, residents told The Irish Times. They added the playgrounds on the campus were always busy with children and parents.
The gates, allowing only access to residents, had offered a sense of security. However, that was shattered shortly after 11am on Wednesday morning. A violent disturbance in a second-floor apartment resulted in one teenage male being killed, another suffering wounds and a woman – believed to be a care worker – also suffering a wound. Gardaí believe a knife or bladed implement was used by the attacker.
In a statement, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, confirmed the apartment was a residential unit which provides 24-hour care. It also said the facility provided care to those seeking international protection. They were supporting care staff at the unit and others affected by the attack, with several teenagers and adults present when the violence broke out.
“Nothing like this has ever happened here; it is normally very safe,” said the female resident. “it’s absolutely shocking.”
Most people, coming and going in their cars or on foot, quickly hurried past, not lingering for conversation. Signs of suburban family life were visible throughout the complex, with children’s slides and bicycles on the grass verges and apartment balconies.
Garda crime-scene tape blocked the murder scene. Uniformed officers kept the scene secure while the Garda Public Order Unit patrolled the area in a van.
Sources said the Public Order Unit was maintaining a presence in case extremists tried to whip up unrest , though there was no indication of that as the day moved on.
Groups of teenage boys and young children gathered at the scene to look on, asking the media what had happened and offering their own theories. Many were present when an ambulance arrived at about 5pm and the remains of the deceased were taken away for a post-mortem examination.
Gardaí have identified a male, who is from abroad and believed to be 17 years old, as the chief suspect. He was arrested at the scene as part of efforts to overpower him and they were waiting to question him on Wednesday night.
