Man in Gort stand-off stable in hospital

10 October 2006 18:06
The man who was shot and injured by a garda marksman at the end of an incident last night on a housing estate in Gort, Co Galway, is still seriously ill in hospital.

39-year-old Anthony Burke, who emerged from his house on Crowe Street discharging a legally held shotgun, is said to be in a stable condition at University College Hospital in Galway.

Meanwhile, a single garda inquiry under the direction of divisional Chief Superintendent Kieran Kenny is now under way into the events which led to the shooting of Mr Burke, after a 21-hour stand-off.

The inquiry will examine the events which led to the stand-off and the handling of the situation when Mr Burke emerged from the house last night.


Mr Burke received a single bullet wound in the chest when he was fired on by a member of the Garda Emergency Response Unit.

The Garda Commissioner appointed Chief Supt Kenny from Sligo Garda station to investigate all aspects of last night's incident.


Earlier, the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, said he fully supports and commends the 'garda bravery' during the siege.

Mr McDowell said he was satisfied that gardaí have a policy of deploying the least possible force and that they deserve our gratitude.

He said gardaí used potentially lethal force but used it in a way that has not resulted in loss of life.

'Proper force'

Mr McDowell said that 'proper force' was used and the incident was dealt with in the manner it needed to be.

He said there was a very serious threat to the lives of gardaí and others.


In the incident, Mr Burke left his house at around 8.20pm last night and fired a number of shots in the direction of gardaí.

Gardaí had tried unsuccessfully to disable him using non-lethal bean-bag ammunition.

Mr Burke had earlier been involved in negotiations with gardaí before unexpectedly leaving the house.

The Garda Technical Bureau arrived in Gort at around 1am today and is carrying out a forensic examination of the house in which Mr Burke had barricaded himself and the area surrounding it.