Three men have been arrested, and firearms and ammunition have been seized by gardaí following a shooting incident in Glenties, Co Donegal.

Shortly after midnight, gardaí were called to Mill Road in Glenties, after reports that a man armed with a rifle had fired shots.

A number of garda units attended the scene.

During a brief standoff, the man shot in the direction of gardaí causing damage to a patrol car, before he was arrested by armed gardaí.

No shots were fired by gardaí during the incident and there were no reports of any injuries.

The man, who is in his early 20s, was arrested and taken to Ballyshannon Garda Station.

A rifle, a hunting knife and a number of rounds of ammunition were seized.

A house on Main Street, Glenties, was searched during a follow-up operation and a second firearm was recovered and two men, aged in their 20s and 40s, were arrested.

Both men were taken to Ballyshannon Garda Station.

A number of scenes were preserved for forensic examinations following the incident and inquiries are ongoing.



Garda Representative Association (GRA) central executive committee member for Donegal Brendan O'Connor said this and another separate incident involving firearms in a house in Donegal show that "firearm and life-threatening incidents can occur anywhere at any time".

Garda O'Connor said: "My first thoughts are with the colleagues directly involved in the incident who put their lives in danger serving the community.

"There is an obligation on the State and garda management that an appropriate tiered response is available locally when such situations arise.

"The safety of the members I represent and the communities they serve must be protected by providing a properly resourced and equipped policing service that has the capacity to respond to these incidents," he said.

"Waiting for Armed Response Units to travel from Castlebar, Cavan or Galway when there is a threat to life is simply not an appropriate protocol," he added.