Garda Testifies: 'Feared for My Life' in Fatal Nkencho Shooting

The garda who shot George Nkencho has said he was in fear of his life and felt he had no option but to fire his weapon six times after the 27-year-old lunged at him with a kitchen knife. The member of the Garda Armed Support Unit gave evidence from behind a screen at the inquest into the death of Mr Nkencho this morning. Mr Nkencho was armed with a kitchen knife when he was shot and killed outside his family home in Clonee on 30 December 2020 after an earlier assault on a supermarket worker. Garda A, who has been granted anonymity, told the coroners court that he was on duty at the Armed Support Unit base at Dublin airport when a call came through that there was a male armed with a knife in a shop near Blanchardstown. He travelled to the area with his colleague, referred to today as Garda B, and saw around ten members of An Garda Síochána, both in uniform and in plain clothes following Mr Nkencho. He said Mr Nkencho appeared angry and agitated and was clinching a knife, and Garda A feared he would attack anyone who tried to arrest him. Garda A said the 27-year-old walked down a laneway and into the driveway of 15 Manorfields drive. He said he didn't know Mr Nkencho lived there, adding "I thought he was walking around randomly... he was angry looking and snarling". He said he shouted at him to drop the knife and heard others shouting the same when Mr Nkencho "suddenly lunged at me". A taser was deployed, sending electrical currents into Mr Nkencho’s body. He "seized up" and fell onto the ground. Garda A said he went to get the knife, but the taser didn’t appear to work, and second laser attempt also failed. He said Mr Nkencho still had the knife clinched in his hand and was trying to get back up. He said he then moved in to try and kick the knife out of his hand but failed. Garda A said Mr Nkencho stabbed at his leg with the knife, but said while he felt contact the knife missed. The coroners’ court heard Garda B sprayed pepper spray, but it didn’t have the desired effect. "He got up and I could remember his anger, his eyes were wild, and he lunged at me", Garda A said. He said after assessing the situation he believed the only option to save his own life was to fire his firearm at Mr Nkencho. He said he was shouting to drop the knife and then fired the gun, but Mr Nkencho kept coming at him so he fired again. "He didn’t appear injured, he was flailing around". Garda A said he had fired four times and was backed up against a hedge when he fired a fifth time, aiming at the "central mass of the body". He said "he was going to kill me if he got the chance. I fired for the 6th time" and at this point Mr Nkenko fell to the ground seriously injured. Coroner Myra Cullinane asked Garda A if he was aware that George Nchenko had mental health issues and if he’d known would the approach have been different. Garda A said he wasn’t aware of mental health difficulties but having that knowledge wouldn’t have changed how he had handled the situation. He said: "Any action I took was a response to his aggressiveness". Ms Cullinane asked if he had discharged his weapon in an operational manner before this, to which he replied no. He said: "His actions were dictating my response… his failure to comply resulted in my actions". Photographs of the weapons used that day were shown to the jury at the beginning of proceedings today. These included the taser and firearm that were deployed, the pepper spray cannister, and the knife Mr Nkencho was holding. Eanna Mulloy, senior counsel for the Nkencho family, is now cross-examining Garda A.