Gardaí are keeping an open mind on the motive behind a carefully planned shooting in which a 42-year-old man suffered a single gunshot wound to the stomach while on his way to work in Cork city on Friday morning.
The man had gone to collect his car at Wilton Manor near the Wilton roundabout on the city’s southside shortly after 5am when he was confronted by a masked man armed with a handgun who fired several shots at him from less than five metres away.
The victim sustained one gunshot wound to the stomach and fell as the gunman ran off to a waiting car driven by another man which sped out of the quiet cul-de-sac apartment block just off the Wilton roundabout, which can be accessed via Summerstown Road off the Glasheen Road.
The victim, who is originally from the Blarney Street area of Cork’s northside but is living on the southside near Wilton Manor, managed to get into his car and drive to Cork University Hospital less than a kilometre away.
He went to the emergency department and explained that he had been shot in the stomach before he collapsed into unconsciousness, and underwent emergency surgery. His injures are no longer thought to be life threatening.
“He suffered a single wound to the stomach but he was extremely lucky in that the bullet missed all major organs so he will pull through,” said an informed source as a Garda statement confirmed the man was now in a stable condition.
Permission
Gardaí have had a brief conversation with the victim, but they hoped to be given permission by doctors to speak to him at more length later on Friday in an attempt to get a more detailed description of the gunman and any other information that might assist them.
“This has all the hallmarks of a carefully planned attack – the gunman was waiting with a driver in a getaway car parked nearby – Wilton Manor isn’t the easiest place to access as you have to work your way in a few twists and turns from Summerstown Drive to get there,” said the source.
“Clearly whoever was behind this, they had done their homework and knew the injured party parked his car there plus what time he went to collect it to go work so they knew his routine while they also worked out their escape route because it can be a tricky place to get out of quickly.”
Gardaí say that they have received no reports of any cars being found burnt out as happened in a number of recent shootings and killings in Cork, leading investigators to believe that the gunman and his driver have hidden their getaway vehicle.
They are calling on witnesses to come forward. They are particularly appealing for information on the movements of a silver saloon car that was observed in the Summerstown Drive, Summerstown Road, Wilton Court and Wilton Manor areas at the time of the shooting.
It’s understood the car then travelled from the scene in the direction of Bishoptown.
The scene was cordoned and Garda technical experts recovered a number of items which they believe may assist them in establishing who was responsible for the shooting which happened just as dawn was breaking.
Officers also began door-to-door inquiries in the apartment complex and surrounding houses in the hope that somebody may have seen the gunman and his accomplice enter the cul-de-sac and lie in wait for the target or flee the scene after the shooting.
They also began harvesting local CCTV footage in the hope that they may be able to pick up the gunman’s car either entering or leaving Wilton Manor.
They would like any motorists who were in the Wilton, Glasheen or Togher areas between 4.45am and 5.45am and have dashcam footage to contact them at Togher Garda station where an incident room has been set up. Investigators can be contacted on 021-4947120.
