A ballistics report is expected to confirm a semi-automatic weapon was used to shoot a Limerick man last week.
Mr John Creamer (27), who lives in Southill, was shot 14 times in the attack at the junction of Hyde Road and Lenihan Avenue in Ballinacurra Weston last Thursday at 8.10 p.m.
He had 28 wounds from 14 bullets. It was the second serious assault on the victim.
He was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, where his condition was described yesterday as "critical but stable".
An investigation involving 50 garda∅ is ongoing and garda∅ do not believe the shooting is connected with any of the recent fatal incidents in the city.
Garda∅ understand the attacker may have driven to where the victim was walking before opening fire and are not ruling out the possibility that more than one person may have been involved.