The father of a woman critically injured in a domestic dispute raised the alarm after hearing shots that left Garda Tony Golden and a gunman dead.
Investigating officers told a press conference that the seriously-injured woman’s father was waiting outside the house when Adrian Crevan Mackin, 24, opened fire.
‘Gunshots were heard in the house,’ Supt Gerry Curley said. ‘Her father immediately raised the alarm and the gardai were contacted on 999.’
Garda Tony Golden had travelled with the woman to a house she had shared with dissident republican Adrian Crevan Mackin in the Louth village of Omeath when he was shot dead.
The woman, in her early 20s, was also shot a number of times and is said to be in a critical condition in hospital.
The dead officer’s commander, Superintendent Gerry Curley, revealed he had taken a written statement from the woman on Sunday afternoon in the local station and then travelled with her and her father to the terraced house where they were gunned down.
The killer had been on bail awaiting trial for IRA membership.
He was due before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin after being arrested and charged at the start of the year following a joint Garda-Police Service of Northern Ireland operation to target dissident republicans in the border area.
Forensic examinations took place at the house where the front door had been damaged and partly covered with an evidence bag. Door-to-door inquiries were also conducted in the estate.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said that she was appalled by the loss of life.
‘The fact that a garda has laid down his life while protecting the community is a cause of great sadness. His death will be mourned by the entire nation, grateful for the service which he gave to it,’ she said.
Dermot O’Brien, president of the Garda Representative Association, said: ‘This dreadful, dreadful news is the deepest fear of every police family. This puts everything we do into perspective.’
Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan said the latest killing has proved “very traumatic” for officers, particularly younger members in the district.
‘My thoughts are with the families of all the individuals who are involved in this absolutely horrific and tragic incident.
.But especially our thoughts are with Tony Golden‘s wife Nicola and his three young children, his parents and his wider extended family.
The commissioner said the second Garda killing within three years has ‘certainly had an impact’ on her rank and file as well the local community.
‘Speaking to some people here today, I understand and can empathise with the numbness, the shock and the sense of loss they feel.
‘But that numbness, the shock and the sense of loss is mostly felt here in this (Garda) district, by Tony’s colleagues he had served with in Dublin and right throughout the country and the wider family of An Garda Siochana.’
WATCH RTE NEWS VIDEO HERE:
Superintendent Gerry Curley pays tribute to his colleague Tony Golden who was killed while on duty in Omeath yesterday.
Posted by RTÉ News on Monday, 12 October 2015
As the tricolour flew at half mast at Dundalk Garda Station, Commissioner O’Sullivan paid tribute to the man that had been lost just doing his job.
‘Tony was very respected and held in very high esteem. He lived in the community, he worked in the community and he served the community. He served it with dignity, with pride and with distinction.
‘He was a very proud family man and his wife Nicola, the loss is unthinkable for her, his parents and the extended family. Our heartfelt support and sympathy goes out to them.’
The Garda chief acknowledged the country-wide support and solidarity offered, led by President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
‘That sense of solidarity and support is the only small comfort we can bring to Nicola and Tony’s parents on a day like today,’ she added.
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