Man (27) critically injured after shooting in Bray

A man remained in a critical condition on Thursday morning after being shot the previous evening as he sat in a parked car in Bray, Co Wicklow. The victim was wounded in the chest during the attack.

Gardaí rushed to the scene on St Laurence’s Terrace immediately after the shooting which occurred at about 8.45pm on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old was sitting in the passenger seat when a dark coloured car pulled up alongside whereupon the victim was shot and the dark coloured car left.

The wounded man was attended to by paramedics before being taken to hospital.

He remained critically ill late on Thursday as efforts to save his life continued.

The scene, beside a SuperValu, was secured by gardaí overnight. It was due to undergo an examination on Thursday morning by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.

Aged 27 years and from Bray, the injured man has a number of criminal convictions. Detectives were on Wednesday night trying to establish a motive for the shooting, which they believe was an attempt on his life. They were trying to establish if he had fallen foul of any criminal elements in the area of late.

Garda sources said it was possible the shooting was related to a personal issue or the victim may have been targeted by those involved in organised crime.

Bray has been the scene of a number of shootings in recent years, some of which have involved local drugs gangs clashing. However, sources said it was too early to determine if the shooting was drug-related.