Another man was shot dead in Dublin last night in an apparent gangland murder. Gardaí were early today reported to be searching a house near the scene of the shooting in Clontarf, Dublin.
The man was shot in the head while sitting in the passenger seat of a car at around 10.30 pm on the Clontarf Road.
It is understood that another car pulled up alongside the passenger side of car in which he was sitting and shot him.
The man being sought by gardaí is believed to be the driver of the car in which the man was shot. The driver may also have been injured in the attack which happened near the Yacht pub in Clontarf. Ivor Callely, who is a TD for the area and aMinister for State, passed the scene of the shooting shortly after it took place.
He told The Irish Times last night that he could see a number of bullets in the side passenger door of the dark Ford Mondeo car. Inside, the body of the shot man was clearly visible. The car was still parked in the middle of the road early today and there was speculation that Clontarf Road might be partially closed this morning.
At least one house on Clontarf road, understood to be a rented property, was raided by armed gardai following the shooting. There was also intense Garda activity, including the garda helicopter and dog units, in the area late last night. It was unclear whether the shooting was related to the murder of two men in the Dublin suburb of Firhouse, Co Dublin, on Sunday night. However, early indications were that there may be a link betweeen the two.
A spokesman for the Garda confirmed that the shooting had taken place at around 10.30 pm, and said Garda experts were present at the scene of the attack Another witness to the scene following the attack said the body of the man was clearly visible in the passenger seat of the car. The news that there has been another gangland-style shooting in Dublin comes amid mounting fears of increasing violence amid the city’s criminal community.
The two men shot dead last Sunday night were known to be involved in a four-year territorial feud between two drugs gangs on the southside of the city.
Six people are so far thought to have died in an ongoing gangland feud, and there have been 30 shootings. However, the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has rejected any suggestion that gangland killings are "spiralling out of control". It is understood that the car ivolved in the latest shooting is also registered on the southside, prompting local speculation that it was linked to the weekend murder.
Mr Callely last night expressed his "horror and shock" at the shooting, which he described as a "tragic incident."
"Having just learned of this... I obviously would be deeply concerned," he said. "It would bring the issuse of gun culture and the death it can cause to a new level," he told The Irish Times.