Young campers in County Roscommon terrorised by masked men
Gardaí are investigating the incident.
A group of young campers were subjected to a terrifying ordeal last weekend by masked men carrying an axe and a baseball bat.
The Herald understands that six young people had been camping at Erritt Lake in West Roscommon when in the early hours of last Sunday morning, two men wearing balaclavas emerged from a black coloured car.
One of them was wielding an axe while the other was carrying a baseball bat.
It’s believed that some of the campers were subjected to threats and intimidation during the ordeal and their belongings were destroyed.
A father of one of the campers told the Herald that his daughter and her friends “feared for their lives”. He rang 999 after his daughter got in touch with him.
“A car pulled up and two guys got out with balaclavas on. They opened the boot. One took out an axe and one took out a baseball bat.
“As soon as my daughter saw this, she and her friend ran and hid under a thorny bush area. Her friend was crying that they would be found. The whole thing was so frightening,” he said.
A number of the campers are said to have been left deeply traumatised by the incident.
It’s understood that there were other occupants in the car at the time and security footage has been handed to gardaí as part of the investigation.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed it had received a report of an incident at Erritt Lake at around 12.45 a.m. on Sunday, June 22nd last.
“No arrests have been made at this time. Investigations are ongoing,” said the spokesperson.
