Riots broke out Thursday evening in Dublin after at least 100 people took to the streets and clashed with police after a knife attack at a school left three young children injured.
According to Irish police, a man in his 50s who was detained as a “person of interest” and sustained injuries, attacked several people at about 1:30 p.m. local time Thursday outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, a school at Parnell Square East, in the north of Dublin city center.
A 5-year-old girl is currently receiving emergency medical treatment in a hospital due to critical injuries, according to reports. An adult woman in her 30s was also hospitalized. Two other children — one boy, 5, and one girl, 6 — were treated for less severe injuries.
Hours after the attack, the BBC reported that protests had broken out in an area near the school, as crowds of people — some of whom were masked and armed with metal bars — began to chant anti-immigration slogans, set police vehicles on fire, loot local stores and attack police officers.
More than 400 officers, equipped with riot shields and batons, were deployed to the scene in an effort to contain the disorder, which police attributed to a small group of thugs, The Associated Press reported.
“We have a complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology, and also then this disruptive tendency engaged in serious violence,” Ireland police Commissioner Drew Harris said.
He urged people to remain calm and be mindful of misinformation ciruclating in the wake of the attack.
“It’s our responsibility to make sure that we police the streets, and part of that is we ask people to act responsibly and not to listen to the misinformation and rumor that is circulating on social media,” Harris said, per reports from The Guardian.
“The facts are being established, but the facts are still not clear on a lot of the rumor and the innuendo is being spread for malevolent purposes,” he added.
The police said it was too early to assign a motive to the attack.
“I have never ruled out any possible motive for this attack … all lines of inquiry are open to determine the motive for this attack,” Harris said during an evening press briefing.
His comments mark a contrast from earlier remarks made by Superintendent Liam Geraghty, who said the police were keeping an open mind “about any potential motive” but were “satisfied there is no terrorist link.”
The suspect has yet to be formally identified, though anti-immigrant groups claim he was a foreigner, The Guardian reported.
Several Irish politicians have responded publicly to both the attack and riots.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar offered his thoughts and prayers to the children injured as well as their families.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee condemned those who took to the capital’s streets.
“The horrific attack today in Dublin city center was an appalling crime that has shocked us all. However, the scenes we are witnessing this evening in our city center cannot and will not be tolerated,” McEntee said. “A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc.”