A man was detained by Irish police after allegedly stabbing numerous people outside a Dublin primary school, leading to an uproar in the streets, according to multiple reports and video footage.
The incident happened around 1:30 p.m., according to The Guardian. A five-year-old girl, a man in his 50s, and a woman in her 30s sustained serious injuries. A five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl are being treated for less serious injuries, per the outlet. The boy has been discharged from the hospital.
Police said they detained a man in his 50s as a “person of interest,” the outlet reported. Irish outlet Gript reported the suspect is “understood at this stage by Gardai to be an Algerian national,” according to a Tweet. Garda commissioner Drew Harris declined to reveal the suspect’s identity, stating the protests were a result of a “hooligan faction driven by far right ideology,” the Irish Examiner reported.
The stabbing reportedly happened as children were coming out of school. Bystanders disarmed the man and held him on the ground, kicking him, witness Siobhan Kearney told RTÉ, The Guardian noted.
“People were trying to attack the man. So me and an American lady formed a ring around him saying we’d wait on the garda,” Kearney told the outlet. “Two children and the woman were taken back into the school where they were coming from. It was absolutely bedlam.”
Videos on Twitter show people taking to the streets of Dublin.
Angry scenes in Dublin tonight as news breaks that an Algerian immigrant is responsible for the mass stabbing attack earlier today. #IrelandisFull pic.twitter.com/PXUqReRQXL
— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) November 23, 2023
Multiple Garda cars and a bus were set on fire at the protests, according to videos.
Dublin bus alight. pic.twitter.com/m7rjhN41UT
— MichaeloKeeffe (@Mick_O_Keeffe) November 23, 2023
The incident is being treated as a “standalone” rather than a “terror-related” incident, Superintendent Liam Geraghty said at a press conference. (RELATED: ‘Tragic, Tragic Homicide’: 13-Year-Old Fatally Stabbed On New York City Bus)
Helen McEntee, the justice minister, said the “horrific attack” has “shocked us all,” amid calls for her resignation. McEntee released a statement about the protests on Twitter.
“The scenes we are witnessing this evening in our city centre cannot and will not be tolerated,” she said. “A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc.”