George Nkencho: Witnesses sought after man shot by police
- Published
George Nkencho died after being shot by Irish police
The Garda Ombudsman has asked for witnesses to the fatal shooting of a man by gardaí (Irish police) to come forward.
The man, named by Irish broadcaster RTÉ as George Nkencho, was shot by an official garda firearm.
Gardaí were called to Manorsfield Drive in Dublin after reports of a man armed with a knife at a Eurospar shop in Hartstown.
He had reportedly threatened staff at the shop at about 12:15 local time.
After leaving the shop the man threatened uniformed gardaí with a knife in Manorfields Drive.
Gardaí said the man also threatened members of the Armed Support Unit with a knife.
In a statement, Mr Nkencho's sister Gloria said her brother was "suffering from serious mental illness and those who knew him know the type of person he was, he was not a thug nor a criminal".
"My siblings and I have witnessed the most traumatic experience of our lives as our brother was shot in front of us," she said.
"My family greatly appreciate everything everyone is doing. I kindly ask to refrain from sharing the video of the shooting. It is not something I wish to be reminded of."
An Garda Síochána said it implemented a "graduated policing response".
This is where the use of less-than-lethal force options are initially administered in an effort to resolve an incident.
Gardaí say those options were unsuccessful, and a number of shots were fired from an official garda firearm.
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People Before Profit TD (member of the Irish Parliament) Paul Murphy said the incident was "extremely concerning".
In a tweet, he said there were three "important" questions, external: "What attempts to de-escalate and disarm were made? Who took decision to shoot and why? Did the fact that he was a black man affect the decisions the gardaí made?"
Mr Nkencho was treated at the scene by Armed Support Unit paramedics and Dublin Fire Brigade paramedics.
He was transferred to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, where he has pronounced dead on Wednesday afternoon.
A post-mortem examination is due to take place on Thursday.