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BreakingNews.ie
14 hours ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Local man speaks about giving refuge to people during Carlow shooting
Carlow's Fairgreen Shopping Center reopened on Wednesday following a shooting incident which left one man dead and a nine-year-old girl injured. Wicklow man Evan Fitzgerald fired a number of shots inside the Tesco supermarket at the Shopping Centre at around 6:15pm on Sunday. Advertisement The 22-year-old Kiltegan man was fatally injured during the incident, after he turned a shot-gun on himself. A girl sustained minor injuries running from the scene, was attended to by paramedics at the scene and was subsequently taken home by relatives. Gardaí and emergency response teams rushed to the scene and cordoned off a wide area. John Brophy manager of the shopping centre thanked those for the public's 'understanding and patience'. In a statement Mr Brophy said: "To all Managers, staff, customers, our own security team and the Front Line services, Gardaí, Fire Services etc. we offer sincere thanks and appreciation.' Advertisement Gardaí have yet to give clearance for Tesco supermarket to reopen. A father-of-three who was in his front garden in Carlow town on Sunday evening with his children when shooter Evan Fitzgerald entered Fairgreen Shopping Centre gave refuge to dozens terrified shoppers running from the complex as 'mayhem' broke out. Pa Cahill (48) who lives in the adjoining New Oak Housing Estate was painting chairs for his mother in his front garden while his children aged nine to four were playing alongside him. Mr Cahill outlined what he saw and did to help on Sunday evening. Advertisement 'I was in the front garden painting chairs for my mother and my children, two girls and a boy were out playing too, when I heard loud bangs and pops. I was wondering why would people be using fireworks at this time of year, as that couldn't be right.' 'Next thing I saw when I began looking around where dozens of people running down our road from the shopping centre. They were screaming, shouting and absolutely terrified. Some were even gasping for breath. Many were from the Asian community and all ages.' Mr Cahill, rushed his children inside his house and went back out and also ushered them into his sitting room. 'It was mostly women who were running and they were really, really shocked and visibly shaking. They asked me could they come in and of course I let as many as I could into the house. Advertisement "I didn't have time to think about what was unfolding as I wanted to make sure my own children were alright and those who were looking for help. "It happened in a blink of an eye being honest. I would never turn anyone away who needed help let alone something like this. It's not the Irish thing to do. 'I then went up the road and looked over the wall at the centre and I could see gardaí everywhere dealing with what was happening. He went back to the house and tried to re-assure them that everything was under control. About 30 minutes later it was evident that it was safe around the centre and area so the group of people felt it was ok to leave. Advertisement The father said that the community in the housing estate was very close knit but that people are still 'weary and unsure' of themselves after the incident. 'My children are still asking questions about what occurred. My youngest is asking if 'the shooting will happen again,' so it's important to explain as much as you think they are able to cope with and understand,' added Mr Cahill. Ireland Ikea restaurant to offer half-price meals on weekd... Read More He said: 'You never think something like this would happen in Ireland let alone Carlow. You hear about such incidents in the US but not hear. "People here in the town and county are truly devastated over what has happened.' Mr Cahill also praised Tesco and the shopping centre staff for their brave efforts in helping people affected. The HSE is continuing to offer support in the community in response to the 'traumatic events'. On Wednesday, the HSE Dublin and South East psychology staff will again be available in Carlow Primary Care Centre between 9am and 5pm. The HSE said: 'This is a support service to anyone impacted by last Sunday's events in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre.
The Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Journal
Transparency or 'cover-up': Gardaí face Sophie's Choice when tackling fake news online
This is a preview of this month's edition of The Journal's monthly FactCheck newsletter, which looks at what misinformation is being shared right now and points at trends in factchecking. Find out more and sign up here or at the bottom of the page. THE FIGHT AGAINST misinformation can sometimes be Sophie's Choice. Police reactions to separate incidents in Carlow and Liverpool over the past week have shown that quashing false rumours can be made so much easier with transparency. But the ability of bad-faith actors on social media to twist the facts means that providing more information about the perpetrators of attacks on the public mean that more traps may lie in wait in future. At around 6.15pm on Sunday evening, 22-year-old Evan Fitzgerald opened fire at Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow before he inflicted fatal injuries on himself. It was a shocking, unprecedented incident by the standards of Ireland in 2025 – but also one which saw a bleakly familiar response take shape on social media within minutes of the first reports of a shooting emerging. Before anyone knew what had happened, there was a surge of misinformation, including claims that: seven people had been shot ; a 9-year-old girl had been shot in the leg ; the gunman was shot dead by gardaí ; he had an explosive device strapped to his leg ; and that he was an Islamic terrorist . But what happened next was a bit more unorthodox. The Garda Press Office issued four press releases over the next 24 hours which provided a full picture of what happened , including a precise timeline of events, the extent of injuries (including to a young girl), and – most notably – a description of the perpetrator as a 'white adult Irish male' on Sunday night. It was unusually direct by the standards of the Garda press office, which tends only to offer the most basic details around crimes, in part out of sensitivity towards victims and their families. The decision followed a similar move by police in Merseyside less than a week previously, after a man drove into a crowd of football fans celebrating Liverpool's Premier League title win in the city. Advertisement The incident in Liverpool saw the same kind of misinformation spread as in Carlow , with false claims that the ramming was a terrorist attack and that the suspect was a person of colour being shared on social media. As happened in the aftermath of the shooting in Carlow, the police moved quickly and said the suspect was a 53-year-old white man from the Liverpool area. In both instances, the change in tactics appears to derive from almost identical hard lessons from recent history. The Dublin riots in November 2023 were fuelled by a deluge of speculation about the identity and motive of the man who carried out a knife attack at a school near Parnell Square. The Southport riots last year in England followed the same grim pattern, when far-right groups seized on speculation about the identity and motive of the man who fatally stabbed three children. Both instances were preceded by hours of silence from police and officialdom, which created an information vacuum in which speculation and conspiracy theories were able to take hold. On each occasion, speculation dampened much more quickly after both police forces provided additional information about the background of the perpetrators. Not only did this have the effect of preventing information contagion around one of the biggest news events of the year, it also made bad actors on social media look like fools for speculating so freely. The strategy denied bad actors the ability to hijack the narrative and acknowledged a basic truth about modern social media: in the absence of facts, fiction will flourish. But although it worked this time around, it's a tricky strategy that's not without its downsides. Several far-right accounts online accused Gardaí and Merseyside Police of being 'too quick' to say that the suspects in Carlow and Liverpool were white locals, with the implication that this was an act of political messaging rather than public clarity. The next time a similar major incident occurs and Gardaí or British police don't — or can't — release identifying information about the suspect(s), it's easy to see how the decision not to do so will be seized upon. The public may take the lack of information as confirmation that the suspect is foreign or non-white, and may end up believing bad actors or others who are speculating about what has happened. Related Reads Man who fired shots in Carlow shopping centre named locally as 22-year-old Evan Fitzgerald Former head of Counter Terrorism for the UK, Neil Basu told the News Agents podcast that transparency is needed for police to respond in the age of social media. 'The best position policing can come to is a standard position where they give the maximum amount of information they can,' he said. 'I think what was more important in Southport was the allegations of cover-up, as though people were trying to suppress something.' This is exactly what played out in Carlow before gardaí issued their series of statements: people online suggested that the gunman's body was being covered for nefarious reasons, rather than the operational issues that are usually present in such cases. At its core, the issue is more of a problem with online platforms than with the police. Gardaí and police in the UK are simply reacting to the situation created by social media companies, who allow false claims to spread unchecked in the moments after a crisis. Large social media platforms, not police, are ultimately responsible for hosting unreliable accounts that can present themselves as media outlets or pay for verification on a platform like X, which enables them to appear more credible than they are. It is easy to see how misinformation takes hold when paid-for but unreliable accounts frame speculation and misinformation through the language of legitimate journalists, claiming they have received 'tips', 'unconfirmed reports' or information from 'sources'. It's a process that works for both bad-faith actors and social media companies themselves: they get the engagement through outrage and amplification, but if they're wrong, they can simply say they were 'just sharing' what they heard. As real events become overlaid with imaginary details, the truth has to play a constant game of catch-up. For police and state bodies, the problem is a difficult choice: leave the void that bad actors will inevitably fill, or provide information early and risk politicising every statement. That choice will continue until social media platforms are forced to reckon with the role they play — and until meaningful disincentives exist for those who weaponise misinformation. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. 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The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Man who died in supermarket shooting incident fired in the air as shoppers fled
A man who died in a shooting incident at a shopping centre in Co Carlow had earlier walked through the retail premises firing a shotgun in the air, gardai have confirmed. Assistant Garda Commissioner Paula Hilman said the suspect, a white Irish man aged in his 20s, then shot himself outside the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow town after being challenged by armed gardai. The man, named locally as Evan Fitzgerald, aged in his 20s, from Kiltegan in Co Wicklow, had appeared in court last year along with two others on firearms offences. It is understood he had been facing an imminent further court appearance. At a previous hearing last year, where the then-steel yard worker was granted bail with strict conditions, the court was told he had a 'fascination' with firearms but that the interest was more of a hobby rather than a 'nefarious' one. By Monday evening, a technical examination of the car park scene in Carlow had concluded, but the scene remained held and the Fairgreen Shopping Centre remained closed. Ms Hilman said the incident on Sunday evening was a 'terrifying experience' for shoppers who fled the building when the gunman starting shooting in the air. Speaking to media at Carlow Garda Station on Monday, the assistant commissioner confirmed that no one else was injured by any of the shots fired. She said a young girl sustained a minor leg injury when she fell while running from the centre. Earlier, the scene of the fatality outside the Tesco store was declared safe after an examination by Irish army explosives officers. Gardai had called the bomb disposal experts to the scene after observing a bottle containing an unknown substance on the body of the dead man. Irish premier, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, said he was 'deeply shocked and saddened' at the incident. Ms Hilman said gardai attended the incident after receiving multiple reports of shots being fired in the shopping centre around 6.15pm. 'Gardai responded to the scene and met a large number of people running from the shopping centre,' she told reporters. 'An unarmed uniform unit arriving at the scene observed the suspect exiting the shopping centre. 'The suspect discharged a firearm – a shotgun – into the air. 'Another plain clothes armed garda unit responding drew their official firearms and identified themselves as armed gardai. 'The suspect discharged the firearm again, self-inflicting a fatal wound. 'No member of An Garda Siochana discharged a weapon. 'An Garda Siochana now understands that the lone male had walked through the shopping centre and had discharged the firearm, into the air, on a number of occasions. 'No person was injured by the shots discharged. 'A young girl, in the shopping centre with her parents, suffered a minor leg injury when she fell while running from the scene. 'This was meant to be a normal day out on a bank holiday weekend. This was a terrifying experience for every person that was present in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre yesterday evening.' The body of the man was removed from the scene on Monday afternoon, and taken to the mortuary in Dublin. A post mortem is to be carried out by the State Pathologist tomorrow. Ms Hilman added: 'I would like to acknowledge the management and business community of the Fairgreen Shopping Centre for their assistance and support to the public yesterday evening. 'I also want to acknowledge the assistance of all the emergency services yesterday evening, local fire brigade, ambulance services and the Defence Forces for their professionalism and assistance. 'I specifically want to highlight the response of local Garda members, who on receipt of a call of a very dangerous incident immediately responded to protect their community. Their courage was exemplary. 'An Garda Siochana is conscious that this serious incident has an impact on the local community and local Garda management will work with the local community, business community and other state agencies in the coming days to help the community come to terms with this incident. 'An Garda Siochana is also very aware that there is a family grieving the death of their loved one at this time and An Garda Siochana appeals for privacy for the family.' An incident room has been established at Carlow Garda Station, with a senior investigating officer (SIO) appointed to lead the investigation. The Garda said a family liaison officer was providing support to the dead man's family. Local Fine Gael councillor Fergal Browne said people in the town had been left terrified. ' People were obviously terrified, a bank holiday Sunday, going into town to do their shopping,' he told the PA news agency. 'People ran from the centre crying and upset. 'There was a bunch of foreign students in the area, who could not believe they were caught up in the middle of all of it.' Mr Browne added: 'It's very upsetting for everyone who was involved in it or who witnessed it.' Gardai have appealed for witnesses to come forward. They have also urged anyone who may have recorded footage of the incident not to share it on social media platforms or messaging apps, but instead provide it directly to the investigating team.
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Cianan Brennan: How the far right tried to hijack Carlow shooting
Online information in 2025 moves at speed. But the tragic events in Carlow on Sunday, where a gunman opened fire in a shopping centre, appear to sum up the perils of unregulated social media discourse, and what State bodies like the gardaí can try to do to mitigate it. By 12.30pm on Monday, gardaí had put out four statements regarding the shooting incident at the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow Town. The second and fourth were most noteworthy. The second arrived at 9pm on Sunday night and followed a new but increasingly familiar trend – confirming the ethnicity and nationality (white and Irish) of the gunman who was dead at the scene. This is a calculated risk to take legally, one most recently employed during the incident in Liverpool where a car struck dozens of football fans on the street. The Merseyside Police quickly and publicly identified the driver as being both white and from Liverpool. It seeks to balance the potential negatives of being so specific so early regarding a suspect's personal details, versus the upside of nipping the misinformation and narratives spreading about the incident online firmly in the bud. The fourth garda update, at 12.30pm on Monday, was extraordinary. It set out in detail many of the specifics of what had happened – including the age and ethnicity of the dead man, the fact he had died by his own hand, and that no garda had fired a shot, while the only other injury recorded was a minor leg issue suffered by a young child while running away from what was happening. Contrast that wealth of corroborated, checked information, delivered just 18 hours after the traumatic incident had occurred, with the reams of misinformation which spread online, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), in the immediate aftermath of shots being fired at the shopping centre. To list just some of the claims being made: the gardaí had shot a person with a gun, a mass shooting had taken place, seven people had died, nine people had died, a nine-year-old child had been shot, the shooter had explosive objects strapped to his body. Many of these posts got thousands of views. Absolutely none of what they claimed was true. Gardaí near the scene at Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow. By 12.30pm on Monday, gardaí had put out four statements regarding the shooting incident. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Tommy Robinson, the British hard right agitator, was one of those to pass comment. So too our own far-right ideologues and failed political candidates Derek Blighe and Philip Dwyer. None of them could possibly have known what had happened, because it takes time to sift evidence and be certain about what has transpired in chaotic circumstances. But that didn't stop them. After gardaí confirmed that the deceased man was white, Blighe even had the gall to claim that "skin colour is only important when it can be used against you" on X. His point being that if the shooter hadn't been white, the gardaí wouldn't have said so. Meanwhile, his own post stating that 'apparently 7 people including a child have been shot' - posted exactly an hour after the incident, is, of course, still up. It has 332,000 views at the time of writing. 'There is a rush by members of the far right to portray such incidents under their own ideological viewpoint,' said Ciaran O'Connor, senior analyst with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. 'In doing so they are knowingly contributing to disinformation around this incident given there is simply no way for first responders to establish what facts are known at a scene in that timeframe, let alone people following viral Whatsapp and social media posts from a distance,' he said. Emergency services attended the scene at Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Carlow. Photo: Niall Carson/PA The trouble is that there are simply no consequences for people pushing these false narratives. The only response is for people to be vigilant and to take everything they see posted online by unverified or untrusted actors with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, despite the gardaí's unprecedented pushback on this occasion, the information war feels like a battle that is currently being lost, and comprehensively. Read More
Leader Live
2 days ago
- Leader Live
Man who died in supermarket shooting incident fired in the air as shoppers fled
Assistant Garda Commissioner Paula Hilman said the suspect, a white Irish man aged in his 20s, then shot himself outside the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow town after being challenged by armed gardai. The man, named locally as Evan Fitzgerald, aged in his 20s, from Kiltegan in Co Wicklow, had appeared in court last year along with two others on firearms offences. It is understood he had been facing an imminent further court appearance. By Monday evening, a technical examination of the car park scene had concluded, but the scene remained held and the Fairgreen Shopping Centre remained closed. Ms Hilman said the incident on Sunday evening was a 'terrifying experience' for shoppers who fled the building when the gunman starting shooting in the air. Speaking to media at Carlow Garda Station on Monday, the assistant commissioner confirmed that no one else was injured by any of the shots fired. She said a young girl sustained a minor leg injury when she fell while running from the centre. Earlier, the scene of the fatality outside the Tesco store was declared safe after an examination by Irish army explosives officers. Gardai had called the bomb disposal experts to the scene after observing a bottle containing an unknown substance on the body of the dead man. Irish premier, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, said he was 'deeply shocked and saddened' at the incident. Ms Hilman said gardai attended the incident after receiving multiple reports of shots being fired in the shopping centre around 6.15pm. 'Gardai responded to the scene and met a large number of people running from the shopping centre,' she told reporters. 'An unarmed uniform unit arriving at the scene observed the suspect exiting the shopping centre. 'The suspect discharged a firearm – a shotgun – into the air. 'Another plain clothes armed garda unit responding drew their official firearms and identified themselves as armed gardai. 'The suspect discharged the firearm again, self-inflicting a fatal wound. 'No member of An Garda Siochana discharged a weapon. 'An Garda Siochana now understands that the lone male had walked through the shopping centre and had discharged the firearm, into the air, on a number of occasions. 'No person was injured by the shots discharged. 'A young girl, in the shopping centre with her parents, suffered a minor leg injury when she fell while running from the scene. 'This was meant to be a normal day out on a bank holiday weekend. This was a terrifying experience for every person that was present in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre yesterday evening.' The body of the man was removed from the scene on Monday afternoon, and taken to the mortuary in Dublin. A post mortem is to be carried out by the State Pathologist tomorrow. Ms Hilman added: 'I would like to acknowledge the management and business community of the Fairgreen Shopping Centre for their assistance and support to the public yesterday evening. 'I also want to acknowledge the assistance of all the emergency services yesterday evening, local fire brigade, ambulance services and the Defence Forces for their professionalism and assistance. 'I specifically want to highlight the response of local Garda members, who on receipt of a call of a very dangerous incident immediately responded to protect their community. Their courage was exemplary. 'An Garda Siochana is conscious that this serious incident has an impact on the local community and local Garda management will work with the local community, business community and other state agencies in the coming days to help the community come to terms with this incident. 'An Garda Siochana is also very aware that there is a family grieving the death of their loved one at this time and An Garda Siochana appeals for privacy for the family.' An incident room has been established at Carlow Garda Station, with a senior investigating officer (SIO) appointed to lead the investigation. The Garda said a family liaison officer was providing support to the dead man's family. Local Fine Gael councillor Fergal Browne said people in the town had been left terrified. 'People were obviously terrified, a bank holiday Sunday, going into town to do their shopping,' he told the PA news agency. 'People ran from the centre crying and upset. 'There was a bunch of foreign students in the area, who could not believe they were caught up in the middle of all of it.' Mr Browne added: 'It's very upsetting for everyone who was involved in it or who witnessed it.' Gardai have appealed for witnesses to come forward. They have also urged anyone who may have recorded footage of the incident not to share it on social media platforms or messaging apps, but instead provide it directly to the investigating team.
