A MURDER investigation was under way in Tallaght, Co Dublin, last night after one man was killed and another was injured in a series of violent incidents.
Gardai recovered a kitchen knife at the scene of the murder in the Tymonville area. They were still searching for a second possible murder weapon early this morning. Officers sealed off the area after combing gardens around the green space in the Tymonville estate in the belief that the murderer may have discarded the knife as he fled.
The violence began shortly after 6 p.m. when two men arrived at the green space beside Tymonville Road, where some local youths were lying on the grass. According to witnesses, the two men, both in their 20s, were drunk. The youths on the grass were threatened with a broken glass or bottle, which was thrust towards their faces.
Local people said the youths on the grass responded by attacking both men, one of whom was hit over the head with an iron bar. The two men ran off in different directions, but a few minutes later one emerged from a nearby house with two kitchen knives. He ran to one of the youths lying on the grass and stabbed him in the head, face and chest before running away.
The dead man was not officially identified, but was named locally as Mr Mark O'Keeffe, aged 20.
A crowd gathered at the scene after the assailant ran off and a second man was seen attempting to run away. He was caught nearby by a large group of people and thrown into the doorway of a house.
"They battered him", one local youth said. "They threw him through the window of the porch and dropped concrete blocks on him, and they stabbed him as well."
The injured man was taken to St James's Hospital. Gardai said his wounds were not life-threatening. He was later discharged from the hospital.
Local residents said that up to 50 people witnessed the incidents.
The man identified by locals as having carried out the killing is a member of a gang from another housing estate in the area and is known to the gardai. Officers were still searching for him this morning and were hopeful of an early arrest. His car was recovered at the scene.
The incident was sparked by feuding between two groups of youths over recent weeks. Locals said that the two men who approached the youths on the green space were "looking for trouble and found it".
Gardai appealed to anyone with information to come forward.