A colleague of the late Detective Garda Colm Horkan has told a jury about her efforts to assist him as he lay on the road after being shot in Co Roscommon.
She was giving evidence in the trial of Stephen Silver, of Aughavard, Foxford, Co Mayo, who has pleaded guilty to his manslaughter but denies capital murder.
While on patrol just before midnight on June 17, 2020, Garda Helen Gillen said she saw two men grappling at the top of a junction near Main St, Castlerea.
She and her colleague heard gunshots moments later and when she looked back, she said she saw someone falling backwards onto the road from the footpath.
They didn’t know it at the time, but that person was Det Garda Colm Horkan.
Garda Gillen said the other man shot him a number of times before throwing the gun behind him. When asked, she said this man identified himself as Stephen Silver.
After turning her attention to her fallen colleague, she said she thought she found a pulse so she performed CPR on Detective Colm Horkan until paramedics arrived.
Under cross-examination, Garda Gillen said she remembered Mr Silver claiming he had been attacked and she said he also referenced ‘Black Lives Matter’ at one point.
In a statement, she recalled him telling her that the man on the ground wasn’t a guard because he wasn’t wearing a uniform like she was.
Reporting by Frank Greaney.
