Armed gardaí raided homes in Cobh, Co Cork, on Tuesday following the death of a man who was critically injured in a sword attack in the town four days ago.
Members of the Armed Support Unit swooped on a house in the Springfield Park area of the town just hours after the victim of last Friday’s vicious assault died in Cork University Hospital (CUH).
The victim has been named locally as Ian Baitson, 32, a young father and chef who lived in the town.
Mr Baitson suffered severe slash injuries to one of his legs during the course of a serious assault in the car park of the Euro Spar shop on Cobh’s Newtown Road at around 8.55pm last Friday.
He was attacked after he approached a man in a car, who swung a long-bladed weapon at him, believed to have been a Samurai sword, striking him on one of his legs, and causing devastating injuries.
Mr Baitson collapsed instantly and began bleeding profusely.
His attacker fled the area in a car. It’s believed Mr Baitson knew his attacker and that the two may have arranged to meet.
Detectives are trying to establish a motive for the attack, with one line of enquiry focusing on a possible debt.
Onlookers rushed to help Mr Baitson and helped stem the flow of blood before a doctor and paramedics arrived, and he was rushed to CUH in critical condition.
He remained in critical condition over the weekend and was pronounced dead on Tuesday afternoon.
Local residents posted videos and photographs showing armed gardaí in tactical gear in Cobh, some with sub machine guns drawn, surrounding a house, with other officers standing on ladders propped against garden walls in neighbouring properties to observe the operation.
The videos and photographs were shared widely on social media and messaging apps.
A garda spokesman declined to comment on operational matters or on individual lines of enquiry.
In a statement, the garda press office said investigations are ongoing and they renewed their appeal for witnesses to last Friday’s assault to come forward.
It said a post-mortem examination will take place at CUH on Wednesday to establish the exact cause of death.
They said the findings will determine the course of the investigation, and determine whether the probe might be upgraded to a murder enquiry.
Gardaí said an incident room has been established at Cobh Garda Station, and a senior investigating officer (SIO) is leading the investigation.
A family liaison officer has also been appointed to keep the family of the deceased updated.
Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the Newtown Road between 8:45pm and 9:15pm are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cobh Garda Station on 021 490 8530, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.