Gardaí in Dublin have launched a murder inquiry following the death of a 24-year-old man who was found on waste ground in Mulhuddart with a gunshot wound to the leg yesterday afternoon, write Conor Lally & John Downes.
The man had not been officially identified last night but Garda sources named him as Mr Jason Tolan of Drumheath Drive, Mulhuddart. He was known to gardaí.
His was the 20th homicide in the State involving firearms so far this year, compared to 10 in all of 2002.
The murder came at the same time that Fine Gael's spokesman on justice, Mr John Deasy TD, questioned the Government's plans to close two prisons while gang violence and murder were on the increase.
Mr Tolan was discovered by a passer-by at around 4 p.m. in a semi-conscious state on an open area between Wellview Estate and Mulhuddart village. He had sustained one shotgun wound to the lower right leg.
Gardaí believe he had been shot just minutes before he was found but such was the damage to his leg that he quickly lost a lot of blood.
The passer-by tried to assist the victim to reach a nearby road but Mr Tolan passed out.
The passer-by then flagged down passing motorists. Garda and emergency services were called to the scene.
Mr Tolan was taken to James Connolly Memorial Hospital but died from his injuries at around 5 p.m.
The scene at Mulhuddart was sealed off and members of the Garda technical bureau were examining the area last night.
One Garda source said the location of the gunshot wound, in Mr Tolan's leg, may have indicated his attackers did not mean to kill him.
"But the numbers of people who died from loss of blood after having been shot in the leg have been very high in recent years. Anyone who takes a shotgun to somebody's leg has to know they are going to cause them serious harm or death," he added.
Mr Tolan was an associate of members of the notorious Dublin Westies drugs gang. He was close to Mr Bernard Sugg (23), a leading member of the gang who was murdered during a gun attack last August. Mr Sugg was shot twice in the chest as he sat in the Brookwood Inn in Corduff, Blanchardstown.
However, gardaí said while Mr Tolan was "on the very periphery" of the Westies gang he is not believed to have been involved in drug dealing.
He was known to the Garda. In July 1998 a stolen Mercedes 200E in which he was travelling was involved in a collision with another vehicle at Grange Road, Clonsilla. The driver of the other car, taxi-driver Mr Arthur Murphy, was killed in the collision.
Mr Tolan was tried for Mr Murphy's manslaughter. It was never established if he was driving the stolen car and after three trials he was acquitted.
