Gardaí are trying to establish a motive for a gun attack in Greystones, Co Wicklow, that has left a man seriously ill in hospital. Detectives investigating Monday night's shooting say the injured man was not known to them and there was no information that suggested his life was at risk. They have not ruled out the possibility that he was targeted in a case of mistaken identity.
Gardaí are also trying to determine if there were any disputes in the man’s personal life that may have resulted in him being shot at his home.
The attack has some similarities to the fatal shooting of Dubliner Eddie Nugent at his home in Walkinstown, Dublin, on Sunday night. In that case, Mr Nugent (64) was fatally wounded when he went to answer his front door.
Like the Greystones shooting victim of a shooting in Ireland, Mr Nugent had no involvement in organised crime. Gardaí believe he may have been shot by a gunman targeting an associate with links to the drugs trade.
That investigation is continuing and, while a number of lines of inquiry are being explored, gardaí believe Mr Nugent may have been shot over a drugs deal involving his associate that went wrong.
In Monday’s incident, which is unrelated to Mr Nugent’s murder, the man shot in Greystones was at home with his wife at Redford Park when two men came to the front door just after 9.30pm.
When the man (58) answered the door, he was confronted by one of the men who shot him in the stomach. The attackers then drove off in a waiting car while the injured man was taken by ambulance to St Vincent’s hospital. He has undergone surgery and, while he is seriously ill, he is expected to survive.
The semi-detached bungalow where the shooting occurred was sealed off overnight. The scene was examined yesterday by members of the Garda Technical Bureau. Bullet casings from a handgun were visible outside the property, the front window of which was smashed.
Gardaí are hopeful the injured man may be well enough to be interviewed about the attack as early as today. A number of residents in the leafy, private estate expressed surprise at the attack, which took place in a quiet cul de sac area of Redford Park.
In another unrelated incident in Co Wicklow on Monday night, an elderly couple were tied up in their home just after 8pm by three men. The gang ransacked the home of the couple, aged 83 and 85 years, and escaped with a quantity of jewellery. The robbery took place at Briarwood, Vevay Road, Bray.
