Gardaí search for Co Mayo burglary gang after farmer fires shots at getaway van

This photograph shows how a bullet hole was left in the bonnet of the silver Volkswagen van after the enraged man opened fire on Thursday afternoon.

The 62-year-old farmer fired two shots at the van after he had earlier discovered two burglars ransacking his home.

He is said to have proclaimed “enough is enough” after criminals repeatedly raided his home three times in the space of a year.

Following the shooting, gardaí called to the farmer’s home and seized a shotgun and ammunition as part of the investigation.

However, the Sunday World can reveal that gardaí have also launched a hunt for the burglars and have identified two suspects, who are both from Co Mayo and are well-known to gardaí. They and have both appeared before the courts in recent years.

The duo – who are related – are believed to have staked out several homes before breaking into the farmer’s property.

After the farmer opened fire, the two men abandoned the grey van and were seen fleeing across fields near the farmer’s home.

The suspects had been at the back of the van when the shots were fired, where they were trying to load chainsaws, pots and other stolen items.

They were not injured when the shots were fired.

Earlier, the farmer had noticed one of the suspects at the side of the property in which his late father previously lived.

He saw the suspect had broken into the house and was standing beside items that had been taken.

The farmer’s associate said: “He then went into his home, which is beside that property, and got his shotgun and loaded it up as he felt that transportation was on the way to retrieve the items.

“He then hid in bushes for about an hour before the van arrived to take the stuff away. When it was being loaded into it, he fired off the two shots – it was never his intention to harm the criminals.

“After this happened, he made an emergency phone call and told the operator that he had discharged his firearm, which led to a major response from armed gardaí who rushed to the scene and were there within 25 minutes.”

In the meantime, the van had been abandoned after it broke down about a kilometre away.

Bizarrely, one of the suspects called a garda station in Co. Mayo using his own name to report the vehicle as stolen before he and his accomplice fled.

The farmer lives on his own and is said to be “sick and tired, as well as frightened” of criminals targeting his property.

In recent weeks and months, rural parts of Mayo and Galway have been “completely fleeced” by burglary gangs.

While the suspects in relation to this attempted burglary are from Mayo, they are suspected of having “family links” to some members of the west Dublin burglary gangs.

A number of people, including local politicians, who spoke to the Irish Independent, expressed sympathy for and solidarity with the farmer.

“This is a very private individual who lives on his own in a relatively isolated area and he obviously felt that he had enough of being targeted,” said a local person who asked not to be named.