Three children were injured in a suspected school stabbing that social media rumors linked to a foreign national on Thursday, and protesters in Dublin set fire to a car and engaged in combat with police, according to an AFP correspondent.

About 1:30 pm (1330 GMT), a primary school in the city center saw an incident that resulted in four individuals, including two children, being transported to the hospital and a five-year-old girl suffering critical injuries.

Hundreds of people took to the streets after rumors circulated of the attacker’s nationality, some fighting with police and attacking vehicles, according to the AFP journalist.

Police chief Drew Harris blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” for the disorder and warned against the spread of “misinformation.”

He said a number of police vehicles had been damaged, with video footage showing one car on fire.

One protester told AFP that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum.”

Police earlier declared a major incident and threw up a cordon around Parnell Square in the heart of the Irish capital but said they do not suspect a terror motive.

Irish media and eyewitnesses reported that a man armed with a knife had stabbed the victims outside the school.