{"id":300668,"date":"2026-01-24T04:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T04:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/300668\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T04:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T04:10:09","slug":"bullets-did-not-seem-to-have-any-effect-on-george-nkencho-garda-tells-inquest-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/300668\/","title":{"rendered":"Bullets \u2018did not seem to have any effect\u2019 on George Nkencho, garda tells inquest \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A garda<\/a> who witnessed the shooting of George Nkencho<\/a> said the bullets which hit him \u201cdidn\u2019t look like they were having any effect on him whatsoever\u201d.<\/p>\n

Peter Bernard was giving evidence at the inquest into the 27-year-old\u2019s death at Dublin<\/a> District Coroner\u2019s Court on Friday.<\/p>\n

Nkencho died outside his home in west Dublin in December 2020 after being shot multiple times by the Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU).<\/p>\n

The garda said when Nkencho was shot, the bullets \u201cdid not seem to have any effect, nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t \u201cflinch\u201d, Mr Bernard said, adding: \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe what I was seeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t look like they were having any effect on them whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later he added: \u201cI remember thinking to myself, like what\u2019s happening here? Every shot\u2019s not working.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gave evidence alongside another garda member. Both men were called to the area following a disturbance at a Eurospar which preceded the shooting.<\/p>\n

The inquest had previously heard from witnesses who said Nkencho punched a retail worker at the shop and brandished a knife.<\/p>\n

Mr Bernard and Garda Tom McCarrick came across Nkencho walking through the Manorfields Estate with a knife in his hands.<\/p>\n

They described trying to engage him in conversation and contain the situation.<\/p>\n

Garda Tom McCarrick described repeatedly shouting at Nkencho to \u201cstop walking and drop the knife\u201d, but this was \u201cignored\u201d by Nkencho whose \u201cdemeanour was aggressive and intimidating\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nkencho replied telling them to \u201ctalk to the people in the shop and to arrest the people in the shop\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Bernard said: \u201cHe was completely indifferent to any questions we were asking him.<\/p>\n

Later he added: \u201cAny time anyone approached, he raised the knife up above his head in a stabbing motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The garda\u00ed said they shouted at members of the public to \u201cretreat into their homes and to get out of the way\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Bernard described the risk level as \u201cextremely high\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr McCarrick said he was particularly \u201cconcerned for the safety\u201d of a woman and toddler with a tricycle in the street.<\/p>\n

The Garda said he considered using his pepper spray, but would have had to \u201cclose the gap\u201d between them for it to be effective and he \u201cdid not believe it was safe to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Garda Armed Support Unit arrived as Nkencho got to his home on Manorfields Drive.<\/p>\n

Thegarda\u00ed said they were unaware he lived there, with Mr Bernard saying: \u201cIt just looked like he was fleeing into the nearest property to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

During cross-examination he said: \u201cIt was literally the first house he could have gone into when the ASU fellas engaged him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both men described how Nkencho continued to stab and \u201cslash\u201d at the ASU members even as they tasered, pepper sprayed and shot him.<\/p>\n

Mr McCarrick said he feared the ASU member would be \u201cfatally stabbed\u201d during the incident and Mr Bernard said he thought one of them had been stabbed twice.<\/p>\n

At that point, Mr Bernard drew his own firearm fearing the ASU member would \u201close blood and collapse\u201d and thought \u201cmaybe it\u2019s adrenaline keeping the ASU guy up on his feet\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said he believed there was an \u201cimminent threat\u201d to both his and the ASU member\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

He said he had never drawn his firearm before this incident as garda\u00ed \u201cdon\u2019t draw out a firearm unless you\u2019re willing to fire it\u201d.<\/p>\n

After he was shot, Nkencho stayed on his feet for \u201capproximately 15 seconds\u201d, Mr McCarrick said, before he fell to the ground.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, depositions by members of Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) were read to the inquest.<\/p>\n

Crew members from the DFB, which also provides ambulance services in the Dublin area, arrived on the scene and found Nkencho in a \u201ccritical condition\u201d.<\/p>\n

Station officer Declan Rice said he found Nkencho with gunshot injuries to his chest, \u201csome type of wound to his left arm\u201d and metal wires from the taser were protruding from his clothes.<\/p>\n

Mr Rice said he called for an \u201cadvanced paramedic\u201d but none was available.<\/p>\n

As Nkencho was put into the ambulance, the DFB crew described how the area grew \u201cvolatile\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Rice said there was \u201ca number of angry members [of] the public\u201d who were \u201cshouting at garda\u00ed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Firefighter Mick Carton said the crowd which had gathered \u201cbecame quite hostile, and by that I mean the crowd on scene were shouting at the garda\u00ed, which I felt was abusive\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another firefighter, Dermot Mooney, outlined how CPR continued in the ambulance on the way to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.<\/p>\n

He said there was \u201ca lot of blood on the stretcher, I thought the gunshot wounds had exited\u201d.<\/p>\n

Emergency department consultant at Connolly Hospital, Dr Siobhan Maguire described how her team worked on Nkencho after he arrived at hospital.<\/p>\n

She said he had a Glasgow Coma scale of 3, meaning he was deeply unconscious.<\/p>\n

His heart was not beating, Dr Maguire said, and she was told three previous attempts to use defibrillators had found no electrical current in his heart.<\/p>\n

On examination of Nkencho, she said she found he had wounds to his chest and to his left forearm.<\/p>\n

As part of their treatment they quickly administered adrenaline and infusions of red blood cells.<\/p>\n

Resuscitation attempts continued for 17 minutes before Nkencho was declared dead.<\/p>\n

ASU Sgt Aine Power also gave evidence on Friday she arrived at the scene immediately after the shooting, hearing the shots on the way. <\/p>\n

Asked by the coroner if she was surprised to hear them she replied \u201cyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Adding: \u201cI\u2019ve never in my 27 years of service heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When questioned about what planning was done before the ASU members arrived at the scene Ms Power said there is usually a period of time in which to \u201cconsider tactics\u201d, but on the day Nkencho was killed \u201cthere was no time\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cwhen they got to the scene, it was just so fast, so fluid, so spontaneous, they didn\u2019t have an opportunity to stop\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said the \u201cevents occurred within two minutes\u201d.<\/p>\n

The incident was the subject of an independent criminal investigation by the then Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission, now Fiosr\u00fa, which concluded in June 2023 with the submission of an investigative file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.<\/p>\n

A decision was made not to pursue any criminal prosecution in relation to the shooting.<\/p>\n

The inquest into Nkencho\u2019s death began last week at Dublin District Coroner\u2019s Court. \u2013 PA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A garda who witnessed the shooting of George Nkencho said the bullets which hit him \u201cdidn\u2019t look like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[956,9,10,18,13,14,5650,5651,142173,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-300668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-fiosru","15":"tag-garda-ombudsman","16":"tag-george-nkencho","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115948121219579415","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}