Postmortem report has revealed that 27-year-old Nigerian, George Nkencho, killed by police in Ireland was shot six times.

The postmortem identified the interim cause of Nkencho’s death to be two fatal gunshots to vital organs, according to Dublin Live.

It was learnt that five shots penetrated his torso with another passing through his arm.

An email sent to the family by Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission with the postmortem results confirmed that “injuries noted at the postmortem examination were that it appears that six shots were aimed at the central mass [torso] and of those shots, one went through George’s arm and did not go into his chest”.

“The interim cause of death was two fatal gunshots, which caused damage to vital organs.”

Gardaí claimed that its officers shot the Nigerian for allegedly refusing to surrender a knife that he was holding.

The Irish police had said, “The Armed Support Unit were also threatened with a knife and implemented a graduated response where the use of less-lethal force options (taser and OC spray) was initially administered in an effort to resolve the incident. The less-lethal use of force options were unsuccessful.

“At approximately 12.35 pm, a member of the Armed Support Unit discharged a number of shots from his official firearm shooting the male.”

Nkencho killing attracted condemnations and protests in the country and Nigeria with a petition launched online to seek justice for him.

Tweeps on social media compared the Nigerian’s killing to high profile events in the United States, involving the death of black people at the hands of the police.

In a statement on Twitter, Nkencho’s sister Gloria said her brother was “suffering from serious mental illness and those who knew him know the type of person he was, he was not a thug nor a criminal.

“My siblings and I have witnessed the most traumatic experience of our lives as our brother was shot in front of us. I kindly ask (you) to refrain from sharing the video of the shooting. It is not something I wish to be reminded of.”