Major garda alert after man randomly stabbed in Galway city

The incident happened on Saturday afternoon last at around 1.20pm as a young couple were waiting to cross the road on the traffic island at the Moneenageisha lights’ junction

A male who had approached the couple from behind without being noticed, then proceeded to stab the victim in the back – through his clothing  – before making his getaway on foot towards Bohermore.

The emergency services were alerted, and the victim – understood to be a man in his mid-20s – was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken by ambulance to University Hospital Galway.

He was treated for lacerations to his back and required a number of stitches to treat the wound – the victim is understood to have made a good recovery and was released later from hospital.

A major Garda alert was issued in the wake of the stabbing and less than 40-minutes later, a male was arrested in the Tuam Road area and taken to the Garda HQ in Murrough, Renmore, for questioning.

The suspect was detained under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997, Section 3 of which relates to an assault causing harm.

He was also questioned under Section 9 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, relating to the possession of a knife.

The Galway City Tribune understands that when arrested, the suspect – understood to be in his mid-20s – was in possession of a knife, which was seized by Gardaí and has since been forensically examined.

According to Garda sources, the attack was ‘completely random and unprovoked’ with no words having been exchanged while the assailant and victim were not known to each other.

“Thankfully, the victim of this incident is making a good recovery but this could have been an awful lot worse.

“We would like to reassure the public that a person has been detained in relation to this incident and that the Gardaí are seeking no one else in relation to what happened,” a Garda spokesperson confirmed to the Galway City Tribune.