A 40-YEAR-old Limerick man died in a shooting incident in Newport on Monday night after gardai stopped him as part of a routine checkpoint under the suspicion of drink driving.
The Limerick taxi driver was said to have been driving his signage decorated van in an "erratic manner" on the Briarfield stretch of the Thurles to Annacotty Road shortly after 7.30pm when two unarmed members of the An Garda Siochana stopped and spoke to him "for some time" prior to producing a rifle and discharging a number of shots. One member of the gardai managed to wrestle the bolt action .303 rifle from the suspected drink driver after a struggle ensued between them following the discharge of up to six shots.
The man returned to his vehicle and a licenced shotgun was produced by the driver and he discharged a further two shots towards the gardai before turning the gun on himself and fatally wounding himself in the head.
Neither member of the the gardai were injured in the incident and the matter has been referred to the Garda Ombudsman under section 102 of the Garda Siochana Act.
The man was pronounced dead and the scene was sealed off and preserved overnight and all traffic was diverted off the Thurles to Annacotty Road at Newport, Co Tipperary.
The deceased man was not known to gardai and the body remained at the scene for a technical and forensic examination to be completed on Tuesday.
The Garda Ombudsman said that they would investigate the scene "independently of the gardai" and will further their investigations with gardai under interview.