FOUR people, including a Garda, were being treated in hospital following separate shooting and stabbing incidents in Blanchardstown early this morning. One man was in a critical but stable condition.
Shortly after midnight a Garda was stabbed after being called to a domestic row in Fortlawn Drive. The Garda who was trying to disarm a youth was stabbed with a knife. His injuries are not serious.
The father of the youth suffered serious leg injuries. His daughter had wounds to her hands. The youth was arrested after a violent struggle, according to gardai.
At around the same time there were two shooting incidents, one on them in the same estate where the stabbing incident took place. The second was in nearby Sheepmore Avenue.
A man was shot twice in the legs in what the gardai believe was a vigilante attack on a suspected drug dealer.
Two men wearing balaclavas walked up to the corner of Sheepmore Avenue where a number of youths were had congregated. One of the men opened fire with a pump action shotgun, hitting the a man in his thirties in the leg. He underwent surgery in the James Connolly Memorial Hospital.
A hospital spokesperson described his condition as "critical but stable". He had lost a lot of blood and his leg was broken in the attack.
Less than 10 minutes later shots were fired into a house on Fortlawn Drive. Gardai are investigating a possible link between the two shootings. They are also investigating reports that the person whose home was targeted is due to appear as a witness in a forthcoming murder trial.
A man in his twenties was arrested at 2 a.m. and is being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.