ROOKIE COP FOILS GANGLAND MURDER BID
Female officer chases down gun suspect on FOURTH day of job
A ROOKIE cop who chased down a gun suspect may have helped foil a gangland hit, gardai believe.
The female officer was just four days into the job when she arrested a man in Clondalkin, West Dublin, on Friday. A firearm and ammo were found nearby.
A source said: “Her actions may have foiled a shooting.”
GARDAI believe they may have foiled a gangland hit after arresting a man and seizing a gun and bullets.
Officers detained the suspect after a car was abandoned in Clondalkin, West Dublin, and the driver fled on foot at around 9.50pm on Friday.
He was chased into Collinstown Park by three unarmed gardai, who found a weapon and a loaded magazine in a discarded bag nearby.
A source said: “We believe the officers’ actions may have prevented a shooting from being carried out.”
One of the gardai who gave chase is a recent graduate of Templemore – and Friday was her fourth day on the job.
A man, who is in his 30s, was taken to Lucan Garda station where he was last night being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. The firearm, described as a handgun, was removed to the Garda Technical Bureau for ballistic and forensic tests. A car was also seized in the operation. A Garda spokesman said a man fled “while being followed by uniformed gardai in the Collinstown area”.
Fine Gael Cllr William Lavelle, who lives in Lucan, commended the heroic officers for their actions.
He said: “Gardai have been proactive over the past week in terms of tackling both the drug trade and serious crime.
“We’ve had a number of murders in the area over the last few months. It’s good to see gardai are stepping up patrols. It’s only through intense policing we will tackle serious crime.”
There have been four murders within a four-mile radius in West Dublin in the past four months.
On December 22, Noel Kirwan, 62, was shot as he sat in a car in the driveway of his home in Ronanstown.
He was a close associate of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch and one theory is he was shot by Kinahan hitmen to lure Hutch back to Ireland.
Earlier that month hardened criminal Mark Desmond, 41, was shot dead in the Griffeen Valley Park area of Lucan.
Gardai believe convicted drug dealer Neil Reilly, 36, was beaten, slashed, run over and left for dead in a Lucan estate in January.
Last November dad-of-one Robert Ellis, 25, died after he was stabbed by a gang who chased him.