A man (32) has been arrested in Limerick city today after a car was stolen with three young children inside.
The car was taken from outside Centra at Woodview Shopping Centre on the Old Cratloe Road at 9.15am, after a woman left the keys in the ignition while she went into the store. Two boys and a girl, aged 3, 9 and 12, remained in the car.
A man approached the vehicle and told the older children to get out. He then drove the car with the three-year-old boy still inside to the Country Club, a local bar in the area.
The boy was then freed and the driver continued on, pursued by gardaí. He eventually crashed at the pier at Delmege in the Moyross area of the city
Gardaí approached the car on foot and the driver drove towards them.A Garda spokesman said officers fired two shots at the vehicle "in order to prevent serious loss of life".
The man, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was not injured. He was arrested and is being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Henry Street Garda station.
The Garda Commissioner and the Garda Ombudsman have been notified of the incident.