Five people, including three children, were taken to hospital on Thursday, November 23, Irish police said, following a suspected stabbing outside a Dublin school. Police declared a major incident and threw up a cordon around Parnell Square in the heart of the Irish capital but said they do not suspect a terror motive.
Irish media and eyewitnesses reported that a man armed with a knife had stabbed the victims outside the primary school. Witnesses told how a man had been disarmed and Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar said a suspect had been arrested.
Police, the Garda Síochána, said in a statement they were "following a definite line of inquiry" and were "not looking for any other person at this time." It added: "Five casualties have been taken to various hospitals in the Dublin region. The casualties include an adult male, an adult female and three young children. One child, a girl, has sustained serious injuries, the other two children are being treated for less serious injuries. The adult female is being treated for serious injuries and the adult male for less serious injuries."
The statement added that officers were "investigating all the circumstances" of what it called a "serious public order incident" which occurred shortly after 1:30 pm. It said the force was in contact with parents of all three injured children.
Varadkar said he was shocked by the incident. "The emergency services responded very quickly and were on site within minutes. I thank them for that," he said in a statement. "Gardai have detained a suspect and are following a definite line of inquiry."