Evan Fitzgerald, the gunman who fired shots into the air in a Carlow shopping centre before taking his own life, interacted with another young man before opening fire, according to a witness statement taken by gardaí.
The witness also described how, before the shooting, she pleaded with Mr Fitzgerald not to do anything after he told her “this is going to be really loud”.
Mr Fitzgerald (22), a steelyard worker from Portrushen, Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, fired a number of shots into the air in the busy Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow Town at about 6.15pm on Sunday, June 1st, before taking his own life.
At the time he was facing charges relating to the possession of a military rifle and handgun which he had allegedly attempted to buy on the dark web.
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It has since emerged undercover gardaí sold him the guns, which they had decommissioned, after being tipped off that Mr Fitzgerald was attempting to source weapons on the internet.
The exact reason behind Mr Fitzgerald’s decision to open fire in the shopping centre remains unclear. All the shots were fired into the air and gardaí have said they do not believe he intended to harm anyone.
Garda sources say CCTV shows Mr Fitzgerald entering the shopping centre alone and that there is nothing to indicate he was acting with others.
One woman, who asked not to be identified due to security concerns, said she was upstairs in the shopping centre nursing her newborn baby when she spotted Mr Fitzgerald and another young man.
She said the pair were standing near some amusement machines and that one of the men was going through a bag.
“They were smiling at each other, and he was showing something to the other guy. The other guy had his phone out and holding it in a way that kind of looked like he was filming,” the woman told The Irish Times.
“They were definitely together. There was no doubt about that.”
She said the “taller, thinner” young man then departed the scene, leaving Mr Fitzgerald behind.
The woman, who worked as a teacher, said she suspected Mr Fitzgerald was “getting up to mischief”.
Mr Fitzgerald then passed the woman as she was holding her newborn. “He looked at me and said, ‘just so you know, this is going to be really loud’,” she said.
The woman said she responded “how about don’t, then”. She repeated this a number of times but the man ignored her.
She said he had an object in his hand which she thought may have been a paintball gun. Mr Fitzgerald did not seem agitated and upset at this point, she said.
Mr Fitzgerald then left the area and went down the stairs. He passed the woman’s partner who was coming up to join her.
The man had noticed that Mr Fitzgerald was holding a shotgun and told his partner they needed to hide.
The couple and their baby hid in a conference room where they heard six or seven shots. Both were left badly shaken by the incident. Gardaí later took statements from both witnesses.
The woman, whose mother was downstairs by the Tesco store, said she thought people in the shopping centre were being shot. It took a long time for her to verify her mother was safe, she said.
The woman’s mother said she took cover behind some trolleys while the shots went off. “I was laying there on my belly, hoping he wouldn’t notice me,” she said.
“I laid there for the longest time, until I started hearing the gates of the Tesco coming down.
“So I stood up, and then a lovely police officer came over, and he just ushered me out the door and said go home.
“I had no idea where my family were. The first shot, for all I knew, killed my grandson.”
