DPP to get files after shooting incident

Gardaí investigating a shooting incident at a house in Dublin on Monday have released a man without charge but are preparing two separate files for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The suspect, in his 20s, was one of a three-man armed gang who tried to gain entry to a house at Fortlawn Avenue in Blanchardstown at around 6.30 a.m. on Monday.

When they arrived at the house a number of shots were fired from a shotgun and two 9mm semi-automatic pistols. One man was wounded in the leg during the exchange which involved the gang and at least one of two people at the house at the time.

The injured man is still recovering in Beaumont Hospital. It was initially believed he might lose his leg but his condition has improved and he is now expected to make a full recovery.

The men behind the attack are well known to gardaí in Dublin. However, while they are suspected of involvement in other serious gang-related crime, detectives believe the latest incident may have arisen after a personal dispute between the group and a man known to them rather than from gangland activity.

Gardaí are still waiting to interview the man they believe was the target of Monday's attack. He was aware that his safety was in danger before the incident and is understood to be in hiding somewhere in Dublin. He was not known to gardaí before Monday's incident.

Shortly after the attack detectives recovered two 9mm semi-automatic pistols used in the shooting. These are currently undergoing forensic testing.

During follow up operations gardaí arrested one suspect and also recovered stolen property at a house in west Dublin, which they have linked to a robbery in Meath over a year ago.

The arrested man was held until Wednesday afternoon but was released without charge. A file on the shooting incident is being prepared for the DPP as is a separate file on a stolen laptop computer recovered at the west Dublin house. Gardaí have linked the computer to a robbery at a house in Drogheda during which a number of items and a car were stolen.

Monday's incident is the latest in a series of shootings involving semi-automatic weapons in Dublin. Many are being imported with drugs shipments from Spain and Holland.

The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has expressed his concern at the number of guns in circulation and is working on plans for a gun amnesty and for harsher sentences for those convicted in the courts on firearms offences.