This video clip shows an extraordinary tense armed standoff between Armed Police and a deranged young man in rural Ireland, holed up in his own house with a legally held double-barreled shotgun, firing at armed and unarmed members of Ireland's National Police Force, An Garda Síochána.

* Although inspired by a true incident, the images are a fictional dramatisation and do not depict any actual person or event.

John Carthy was a 27-year-old Irishman with known psychiatric illnesses, who was shot dead by the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) on Thursday, 20th April 2000 after a 24 hour armed siege at his home in Toneymore, Abbeylara, County Longford.

Mr. Carthy had ordered relatives out of the family home with a shotgun, and discharged two shots in the air outside. His family phoned local Gardaí, who quickly arrived on scene. The man was known to the Guards, and had previously assaulted an officer. Unarmed uniformed officers and armed Detectives surrounded his house and attempted to communicate with the suspect. Carthy then fired two more shots from the house, and the Gardai retreated. A group of armed Detectives approached the house to attempt negotiations, but the suspect again opened fire, this time in the direction of officers, hitting an unmarked Garda vehicle which was not occupied.

Reinforcements from Garda Stations in Athlone, Longford and Mullingar arrived in Abbeylara to support the team of Gardai who had now been on scene for a number of hours. At the same time, a team from the elite Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) was dispatched from the Garda Crime & Security Branch headquarters in Dublin. The six-man SWAT team - including a highly trained Police negotiator - arrived as the armed siege entered night-time. A local medical doctor also attended the scene. Throughout the night and into the following morning, the armed intervention team deployed numerous negotiating tactics to bring the barricade incident to a peaceful end, but the gunman was uncooperative with Gardai. The decision was made not to make entry into the house, due to the fact no hostages were present.

After about 25 hours from when the siege first started, John Carthy walked out the front door of his house holding the shotgun (loaded) he had already fired six shots from. He walked out of the entrance to the house, onto the road and in the direction of Abbeylara town. Armed Gardai repeatedly ordered him at gunpoint to stop and drop his weapon immediately. The suspect continued walking and ignored calls to put his shotgun down and give himself up. He was shot four times by two members of the Garda ERU SWAT team, twice in the legs and twice in the torso. His injuries were fatal. The threat to the public and Gardai was eliminated, and no one else was hurt.

The incident sparked controversy in the Republic of Ireland, with sections of the media and the public criticising actions of the Gardai on scene. The family of John Carthy were also critical of the handling of the shootout. However, the force fully backed the difficult decisions made by the Garda ERU. The Government convened a Public Inquiry, which in time made recommendations to the Police service and highlighted what it called 'mistakes', but ultimately ruled that the shooting dead of John Carthy was a 'lawful killing'.
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