Gardaí have identified a man who shot himself in the head in Fitzgibbon Street Garda Station in Dublin yesterday evening. He is Colm Peake, a 39-year-old Belfast man, who is known to police in the North and to the Gardaí. He is a separated father of six who has lived in Dublin's North Inner City for a time.
Gardaí said that he walked into the station and muttered something like "I'm going to do it now" before he shot himself in the public office in front of three Gardaí and a member of the public. Mr Peake underwent emergency surgery and is on a life support machine in the Mater Hospital.
As well as the pistol he was carrying, a silencer was found in his pocket. His suspected paramilitary connections enabled him to acquire the pistol and the silencer, detectives believe.
Fitzgibbon Street Station has now reopened to the public, but the scene where the shooting took place remains sealed off for further technical and forensic examination.
